Experts answered the widely debated question among the public: ‘Should raw milk or packaged milk be consumed?’ Dr. Betül Gürünlü pointed out that tricks are used in unpackaged raw milk products sold on the street to increase their shelf life, and that a significant amount of vitamins are lost when these milks are boiled at home. She recommends purchasing original packaged pasteurized milk. Dr. Gürünlü also commented on the issue of counterfeit alcohol, which frequently comes to the agenda due to causing serious health problems, stating, “They are very similar to each other in appearance, taste, and smell. Products that are open-capped, have deformed bottles, lack holograms, are cloudy, and contain sediment should be avoided.”
Products with open caps and deformed bottles should be avoided…
Dr. Betül Gürünlü, a faculty member at Üsküdar Üniversitesi, Department of Bioengineering (English) within the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, offered important advice by highlighting points to consider in the consumption of non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages, especially milk.
Long-life packaged milk should be preferred over raw milk!
Emphasizing that expired products should not be consumed, Dr. Betül Gürünlü stated, “Especially when buying milk, raw milk products sold on the street should not be preferred. Substances like baking soda or soda may have been added to these unpackaged milks to extend their shelf life. Furthermore, deception may have occurred by removing fat and adding water. Since the cold chain cannot be maintained until these milks reach the consumer, the microbial load can increase. Moreover, because controlled heating cannot be done at home, and in fact, because it is boiled, there is a loss of vitamins B1, B6, B12, folic acid, vitamin C, and changes in color and flavor in the milk. For these reasons, always buy original packaged pasteurized or long-life (UHT) milks.”
Appearance, taste, and smell are the same; the difference can be revealed with kits!
Drawing attention to the issue of counterfeit alcohol, which frequently surfaces, Dr. Betül Gürünlü emphasized that there is no way to distinguish counterfeit alcohol from real alcohol by color or smell. Dr. Betül Gürünlü said, “Both are very similar in appearance, smell, and taste. There are only kits available to chemically distinguish ethyl alcohol from methyl alcohol. With the help of these kits, fake alcohol can be differentiated from real. If alcohol is consumed in a restaurant, one should ask for the bottle to be opened in plain sight. If the liquid quantity in the bottle is noticeably below the standard level, it is advisable to be cautious.”
If the bottle is open and has no label, it should be avoided
Dr. Betül Gürünlü shared her recommendations to avoid being affected by counterfeit alcohol as follows:
“Products bottled and sold outside of glass bottles, products that give the impression that the bottle has been used before, products whose price is well below the market price, products with obvious defects and deformations in their bottles, open-capped alcohol products, products that appear to be sealed but give the impression of having been opened and re-sealed, products without a hologram on their bottle, products whose bottle cap code and neck code do not match, products whose cap part is glued with adhesive, products with a bottle cap that has a hole similar to an injector hole, products without a Turkish label on the back of their bottle for consumer information, products without the name or address of the manufacturer or importer on the label, and products containing visible and obvious cloudiness, sediment, and physical impurity should be avoided.”
The water to be used must be of drinking water quality!
Stating that the water used in beverage preparation must be of drinking water quality because it will become part of the beverage's composition and be consumed by humans, Dr. Betül Gürünlü said, “It should not contain phenol, ozone, free chlorine, or oxygen. In carbonated beverages, adjusting the solubility of sugar is important. To prevent crystallization, a 65% sugar syrup is usually prepared.” She then shared the points to consider when using acid in carbonated beverage preparation as follows:
Acids should be checked for lead content,
Otherwise, acid solutions should not be placed in painted and non-stainless steel containers, as taste changes can occur due to toxic compounds,
Citric acid should be prepared at a minimum of 25% to prevent microbial activity.
Water constitutes 92 percent of non-alcoholic carbonated beverages
Highlighting that all non-alcoholic carbonated beverages consist of a simple mixture structure, Dr. Betül Gürünlü stated, “Firstly, water constitutes 87-92 percent of the beverage volume. The water used is pre-checked to separate impurities, off-flavor and odor components, microorganisms, and other undesirable compounds like cloudiness. Additionally, its hardness and alkalinity need to be adjusted. For example, factors affecting carbonated beverage production, such as product temperature, gas pressure, filling level, product acidity, CO2 content, and sugar content (brix), should be continuously monitored. Carbonation conditions are important because carbon dioxide gas has a significant effect on the beverage's flavor profile. Since the solubility of carbon dioxide is better at low temperatures, the temperature should be kept under control throughout the process.”
Honey-flavored syrup cannot be produced
Dr. Betül Gürünlü stated that non-alcoholic beverages should have specific taste, smell, color, and appearance according to their types, and continued her words as follows:
“They should not contain foreign tastes and odors. Attention should be paid to their content when purchasing. According to the non-alcoholic beverages communiqué published in the Official Gazette, the maximum amount of ethyl alcohol that may arise from the nature of production in non-alcoholic beverages should be 3.0 g/L, lactic acid 0.6 g/L, and volatile acid 0.4 g/L. The caffeine content should be a maximum of 150 mg/L. The carbon dioxide content in carbonated beverages should be at least 2 g/L. In fruit syrups, excluding reduced-energy fruit syrups, the refractometric solid matter content should be at least 60%. Flavored syrup cannot be produced by adding honey flavor. In fruit-flavored natural mineral drinks, the fruit ratio should be at least 4% by weight for carbonated ones and at least 10% by weight for non-carbonated ones.”