Stiftung Warentest basil pesto often bad

Stiftung Warentest: basil pesto mostly disappointing

07/28/2013

Cashew instead of pine nuts, potato flakes instead of parmesan, bamboo fibers, lactic acid bacteria and even carcinogenic substances. Stiftung Warentest found every third basil pesto in the test „inadequate“ and not a single product got the top grade.

Not according to original recipe
The Stiftung Warentest came after a study of 30 pasta sauces with basil, including 6 Pesto Genovese and 24 Basilkumzubereitungen to the sobering result that every third product „inadequate“ be. Few producers of ready-to-use pesto follow Genoa's original recipe: fresh basil, pine nuts, olive oil, Parmigiano Reggiano, pecorino, garlic and salt. Since this is not patented, the producers are not tied to the ingredients. And so it gets trickier in the production.

Potentially carcinogenic substance
So manufacturers would replace expensive ingredients in whole or in part by cheaper. For example, sunflower instead of olive oil, cashew instead of pine nuts, potato flakes or wheat semolina instead of Parmesan and Pecorino. „Instead of 20 percent, as traditional recipes recommend, one sometimes finds less than one percent of cheese, "the report states." Only three of the products examined received the quality rating „Well“, like the magazine „test“ reported in her August issue. All six sauces with the imprint „Pesto Genovese“ did poorly. In part, the original ingredients were missing and one product, the company's biopesto „Ppura“ The testers found the potentially carcinogenic substance anthraquinone. The Swiss company was informed of the contamination and the company recalled the batch from the market. „We can not „Pesto Genovese“ recommend from the test“, so the sobering balance.

Pesto by Jamie Oliver is tasty
In the trade are as an alternative to the original „Pesto Genovese“ Products under the name „Pesto Alla Genovese“, „Pesto verde“ or „Basil pesto“ offered. The three test winners came from this segment. Other brands fell in the taste, such as the pesto of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. According to the testers, it tastes good „Low-aroma and watery. "Bamboo fibers were detected in the pesto from Bernbacher, test director Birgit Rehländer emphasizes: „This is not a food.“ She was generally surprised: „I did not expect so many shortcomings.“ In the pesto „Lucchi & Guastalli“ By Manufactum for 8.90 euros were even found lactic acid bacteria.

Quality does not have to be expensive
Amazingly, especially priced products performed favorably. So the three were as „Well“ some of them rated items many times cheaper than those that failed. The winners were: „Fresh Pesto Basiliko "from Hilcona (2,08 Euro / 100 grams), „Casa Morando Pesto Verde "by Aldi Nord (0.63 Euro / 100 grams) and „Pesto alla Genovese "by Rewe (0.78 Euro / 100 grams) Even better and healthier, but should be homemade pesto Tasty pesto recipes can be found, inter alia, the Internet. (Ad)