Revellers tempted to see in the new year with cheap alcohol are being warned of the dangers of buying toxic fake vodka, which has the potential to cause blindness and even death.
Council trading standards teams across the UK are urging shoppers not to buy or consume counterfeit drinks.
Tests on bottles seized by trading standards officers have found dangerously high levels of methanol – a key ingredient in anti-freeze – among other harmful industrial solvents. Consuming methanol can lead to blindness, and in one case earlier this year was linked to the death of a man in Worthing, West Sussex, who drank a bottle of vodka he had brought back from Poland. Tests subsequently found the drink contained 40% methanol.
In the Czech Republic in September, 26 people died as a result of drinking counterfeit vodka and rum laced with methanol. In July 2011, five men died in an explosion at an industrial unit in Boston, Lincolnshire, where illegal alcohol was being distilled.
The seasonal crackdown is organised by the Local Government Association (LGA), which is advising shoppers to watch out for telltale signs that bottles are not legitimate. These include unfamiliar brand names, drinks containing sediment, wonky labels, poor quality print, spelling mistakes, and bottles on display filled to different levels.
Cllr Paul Bettison, the LGA's regulation spokesman, said: "We've now seen instances where people have been killed by drinking fake vodka. Everyone wants a bargain at this time of year, but by consuming fake alcohol people may be taking their life into their hands. These drinks are often made by organised gangs and may contain all sorts of toxic and dangerous substances."
Bettison said that if an offer seems too good to be true, then it probably is. "Anyone suspicious about a supplier or who thinks they may have bought a bottle of alcohol which may not be legitimate should contact their local council or Consumer Direct as a matter of urgency," he said.
The LGA gave examples of regional crackdowns across the UK. In Staffordshire, 21 traders have been prosecuted in the last year after the council seized about 1,800 bottles of fake alcohol. Many of the products seized were bottles of counterfeit vodka that contained high levels of methanol, which can cause vomiting, dizziness, blurred vision and in extreme cases blindness. One resident who drank fake alcohol was told by his GP that he risked losing his sight at any point in six months after drinking counterfeit alcohol.
West Sussex trading standards has highlighted the potentially fatal consequences of buying cheap spirits while abroad. Its warning follows the death of a man living in Worthing from methanol poisoning, which has been linked to a Polish bottle of vodka. A laboratory analysis showed it contained 40% methanol.
And Essex county council is warning that bottles of counterfeit spirits, marked up as Smirnoff vodka, are in circulation in the county. Trading standards officers are urging businesses not to buy from the 'man in a van' who may call at their premises offering suspiciously cheap alcohol, but to stick to trusted and traceable wholesalers.
Earlier this year Wigan council seized several bottles of counterfeit Glen's vodka that contained the industrial chemical isopropyl alcohol, whose side effects could include dizziness, vomiting, anaesthesia and could even put someone in a coma.
