Yahoo News Bottles of toxic fake vodka handed to Gateshead Council following Food Standards Agency warning
Bottles of counterfeit toxic booze have been handed over to Gateshead Council following a Food Standards Agency warning.
Earlier this month, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) issued a warning that fake vodka, masquerading as Glen’s, had been found to contain an industrial solvent called isopropyl. In doing so, the agency also called on local authorities to conduct checks and make businesses aware that the potentially fatal booze posed a significant health threat.
In Gateshead alone, 21 bottles of the poisonous hooch had been voluntarily handed over to the local authority. According to the FSA, symptoms of isopropyl consumption include nausea, alcohol poisoning, vomiting and abdominal pain, respiratory depression, comas, and in severe cases death.
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A spokesperson for Gateshead Council said: “Our priority is protecting the public and making sure that people are aware that there is a counterfeit product in circulation which could cause harm if consumed. We also make sure that people know how and where to report any counterfeit product.
“We have had 21 bottles voluntarily surrendered to us from across Gateshead.”
The FSA advises members of the public to avoid drinking Glen’s bottles with no laser-etched lot code between the rear label and the base as they are likely to be fraudulent. The agency advises that if you are in a position of such a bottle to report it to your local authority for further instruction. In addition, vodka containing isopropyl will have a strange smell and will taste differently from real vodka.
According to alcohol campaigning organisation Drinkaware, alcohol poisoning was the cause of 552 deaths throughout the UK in 2020. A report from the director of Newcastle and Gateshead public health, Alice Wiseman, also found that a collective 13,333 years of potential life had been lost due to alcohol-related conditions in Gateshead alone.
