Balsamic vinegar tested by Stiftung Warentest. Who is the test winner? How well do organic brands or brands perform at the discounter?
- Stiftung Warentest checked the quality of 19 dark and 8 light balsamic vinegars.
- The test also focused on the taste of the Aceto Balsamico di Modena.
- The result: No vinegar is "very good", but there is hope.
Berlin - Balsamic vinegar is no longer just popular in Italian cuisine. It goes well with salad dressing, in soups, stews and ice cream. Even a few drops of the sweet and sour vinegar can refine dishes. When the dark vinegar tastes good. Because that's not always the case, as an investigation by Stiftung Warentest found.
Stiftung Warentest takes a close look at balsamic vinegar
The consumer magazine Stiftung Warentest had already examined balsamic vinegar in 2011, as RUHR24.de * reports. Then as now, the focus was on the so-called Aceto Balsamico di Modena. The name is a protected specialty, which says that the vinegar is produced in the Emilia Romagna region around the town of Modena in the north of Italy . The original must also meet certain requirements in terms of taste and composition.
In 2011 it looked bleak in the test. Stiftung Warentest found many counterfeits among the examined products. The testers wanted to know if anything had changed. They tested 19 dark " Aceto Balsamico di Modena " and eight light balsamic vinegars for the March issue. The focus was on the quality of the balsamic vinegar and the taste.
Balsamic vinegar from Lidl, Edeka and dm tested by Stiftung Warentest
Unlike most vinegars, balsamic vinegar is not fermented from wine , but traditionally consists of grape must. However, it is often stretched with additives. The testers therefore wanted to know whether this was also the case with the balsamic vinegar from Aldi Nord , Edeka , Hengstenberg , Lidl or Mazzetti . They also examined four organic products from d m , Alnatura , Rapunzel and Campo Verde .
The price of the individual balsamic vinegars differed 60 times. The vinegar from Cremonini Silver at 52 euros and Giuseppe Giusti at 120 euros per liter are at the top of the price list. However, Stiftung Warentest only rated it " good ". The balsamic vinegar received the same judgment from Kaufland . However, it only costs 1.98 euros per liter.
Stiftung Warentest: Testers criticize bad taste of balsamic vinegar
And there are not only worlds between the individual products in terms of price, but according to the Stiftung Warentest also in taste. Here the dark balsamic vinegar from Rapunzel and Alnatura were the absolute front runners. Nevertheless, the organic vinegar from Rapunzel was only "satisfactory". The examination of chips also showed that organic does not always have to be good. The results of a test showed that organic vegetable chips aren't exactly the best.
Others did not do better, sometimes even worse. For example, Stiftung Warentest, which had recently only tested 36 types of honey, rated a total of eleven balsamicos "good", including products from Bertolli , Rewe and Lidl . 13 with "satisfactory" and three even with "sufficient". These included the " Gut & Günstig Condimento Bianco " by Edeka , the Acentino Condimento Bianco "by Lidl and" Condimento Italiano Bianco "by Penny . All three are light balsamic vinegar.
Balsamic vinegar in the test: results are terrifying
The testers criticized a one-sided sour taste and that the vinegar conspicuously contained little tartaric acid, i.e. little grape must. In addition, the strong smell of vinegar, which should normally not appear in balsamic vinegars, was criticized. Nine dark Aceto Balsamico di Modena completely failed with the grade "poor". Have a good appetite.
No balsamic vinegar receives the "very good" rating from Stiftung Warentest
© Kerry Hart / Pixabay
If you look closely, you will find that no balsamic vinegar gets the grade "very good". But what did the testers at Stiftung Warentest criticize?
- Sugar beet, corn or sugar cane were detected in six products. According to the Stiftung Warentest, this has lost nothing in the vinegar, because it can only consist of grapes.
- Many of the balsamicos contained additives such as caramel coloring. The substance favors the dark color.
- The testers also found residues such as iron, zinc and lead.
- Copper was also detected in organic quality balsamic vinegar , but to such a small extent that the testers did not assume any health-threatening consequences.
- The taste of the vinegars left a lot to be desired: Many tasted "dirty", "musty", had hardly any aroma or smelled of glue such as the balsamic vinegar "Mondo Italiano" from Netto for 1.98 euros.
Stiftung Warentest records quality improvements in balsamic vinegar
The testers, on the other hand, are pleased with the quality improvement compared to the test in 2011. At that time, the vinegar did not always come from wine vinegar and grapes - there was no evidence of this in the current test.
This time, too, nobody wrongly adorned themselves with the protected geographical indication of origin Aceto Balsamico di Modena . All products examined by Stiftung Warentest met the required conditions.
* RUHR24.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network
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Rubric list picture: © Harry Axalant / Pixabay, collage: RUHR24
