Icon of Italian cuisine, a symbol that represents us in the world and which we simply cannot give up: we are obviously talking about pasta which, however, is not all the same. To stand out, it must be elastic, of excellent quality and of the right consistency but also free of contaminants such as mycotoxins and pesticides.
But the question arises spontaneously: which are the best on the market? To find out, Altroconsumo he compared 22 samples of penne rigate of the most well-known and purchased brands, then drawing up a ranking.
Curious to discover the best pasta we can buy at the supermarket?
Ranking of the best penne rigate
Here is the ranking drawn up by Altroconsumo which, as always, highlights not only the best products in the test, but also the options with the best value for money:
How the test was conducted
The test examined 22 samples of penne rigate, evaluating various aspects including labelling, product quality, contaminants present and cooking behavior.
On labels, in addition to the mandatory information such as sales denomination, net weight and nutrition declaration, other important details such as the origin of the grain and cooking times.
In the laboratory, parameters such as net weight, the presence of soft wheat (banned in dried pasta), protein content (which affects quality), furosine (indicator of drying damage), impurities but also the presence of mycotoxins and pesticides.
More specifically, we looked for traces of mycotoxins such asochratoxin A, aflatoxins (B1, B2, G1, G2) and the DON (deoxynivalenol). Aflatoxins and ochratoxin A are considered the most dangerous, being carcinogenic, while DON, although less worrying, can still cause gastrointestinal disorders in high doses.
To ensure greater safety, Altroconsumo has adopted stricter criteria than the legislation, applying the “margin of exposure” (MOE) to evaluate the risks linked to ochratoxin A, also considering the effect on children. The DON was also evaluated more rigorously, penalizing products with significant quantities.
The experts at Altroconsumo they also specify that:
The overall judgment is limited by the presence of ochratoxin A and DON: the products that tested positive for ochratoxin A and that contain DON in quantities that are significant for us were penalized and were not able to enter the good or excellent quality zone even if they tested excellent in the other tests.
A total of over 500 pesticides were then examined, verifying that the residues did not exceed the permitted limits and that they were not substances with harmful effects on the hormonal system or classified as carcinogenic or mutagenic.
The test also looked for the glyphosate, controversial herbicide, but fortunately
Finally, the cooking and tasting test it concerned the visual aspect of the raw pasta, its resistance during cooking, the ease of detaching the penne, the resistance to the bite and the absorption of the sauce.
The various tests weighed differently on the final judgement: 40% to the laboratory, 40% to cooking and tasting, and 10% to the label and packaging.
