

The Russian flag flaps in the wind on Oct. 9 ahead of the Russian Formula One Grand Prix at Sochi Autodrom in Sochi. (Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Few things are as synonymous as Russia and vodka. And while it may be a cliche, it's a cliche with good reason: According to one study of drinking habits from 2012, Russians consumed almost 14 liters of vodka per person that year — more than 7 times the amount consumed by Americans.

But what if that vodka isn't really vodka? That's the problem put forward by Russian politician Sergey Furgal, a member of parliament with the right-wing Liberal Democratic Party, this week.

In an interview with the Russian newspaper Izvestia, Furgal, a member of the Duma's health committee, argued that the government's way of classifying "vodka" was too broad. While vodka is traditionally made by fermenting various grains, Furgal argues that many manufacturers were instead using hydrolysis to create their vodka — resulting in a "vodka" that isn't really vodka at all, he says.

"It is necessary to adopt a standard, clearly defined in legislation, of what is vodka, and what is an alcoholic solution," Furgal told the newspaper. "If the manufacturer calls its product 'vodka,' then it must have been created by alcoholic fermentation and distillation. If it was created by hydrolysis, it must then be called 'hydrolytic alcohol solution.' "

Furgal argues that while the chemical formula for the two drinks might be the same, the two different methods of production in fact yielded drinks that had "completely different" effects on the body.

Furgal may have a point. Russia Today reports that the law requires only that the vodka be a “clear colorless liquid with a characteristic vodka smell without impurities and admixtures.”

And the definition of vodka has long been controversial, in part because of its disputed history (both Poland and Russia claim to have created it). In 2006, members of the European Union fought a war over whether the term "vodka" applied only to liquor fermented from grains, potatoes and sugar beet molasses, or whether it could be applied to other fruits, too. In the end, the "vodka war" ended in a compromise.

In Russia, however, the situation may be more complicated. One big problem is that much of the vodka now consumed in Russia is sold on the black market anyway, and Vadim Drobiz from the Center for Federal and Regional Alcohol Markets told Izvestia that it is mostly this fake vodka being produced by hydrolysis. The problem has become acute in recent years: After an anti-alcohol campaign started by then-President Dimitry Medvedev in 2010, taxes on vodka rose by 33 percent last year, and sales of black-market vodka are thought to have grown as legitimate vodka makers suffered. One politician recently suggested that fake vodka now has 55 percent of the market share.

Given that the Lancet's recently released a study also found that "vodka is a major cause of the high risk of premature death in Russian adults," that's a worrying figure.