Antifreeze found in fake vodka in Bedworth

[dutchman]

A warning has gone out in Bedworth after a woman found the vodka she had bought was contaminated with a chemical used for antifreeze.



She called up Warwickshire County Council’s trading standards after deciding the alcohol tasted odd.

When it was tested the fake bottle of Glens was found to have high levels of methanol, which is commonly used as antifreeze, solvent or fuel.

The levels aren’t thought to be life-threatening but if ingested in high levels it could be toxic to the nervous system, and could lead to blindness.

Genuine Glen’s Vodka (70cl) can be easily identified. It will only be bottled in a bottle supplied by Allied Glass Containers. This bottle has a small ‘AGC’ logo on the base of the bottle.

The front and back labels on the counterfeit bottles also appear to be self-adhesive as there is no visible glue pattern. Genuine Glen’s Vodka (70cl) labels are applied by a labeling machine using a wet adhesive that produces a distinctive glue pattern on the back of the label resulting in horizontal lines, approximately 2mm apart.

Warwickshire County Councillor Richard Hobbs, Portfolio Holder for Community Protection said:

“Warwickshire Trading Standards will continue to carry out the important work of identifying and removing from sale counterfeit and dangerous bottles of spirits and take action against the small number of retailers who are prepared to put the health of consumers at risk by their actions.

“I would urge anyone with any information about the sale of fake vodka to contact Warwickshire Trading Standards”

Officers don’t know for certain where the bottle came from and have visited off-licenses and small retailers across the town in search of further fake vodka bottles. To date, no further counterfeit bottles have been discovered or reported.

Consumers are advised that if they suspect their vodka to be counterfeit, to stop drinking it and report the matter to Warwickshire Trading Standards via Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06.