NEWS: Poison alcohol on sale

The sale of falsely-labelled spirits made from methanol has come to light in Sydney, Australia. This was given a couple of column inches in the weekend edition of the Sydney Morning Herald - & received no radio or TV coverage, The SMH item gave a helpline phone number for enquiries to the NSW Food Authority. I have not as yet obtained a copy of this newspaper, but will provide what I have to date on this matter now.



This is a very worrisome & sickening scam, & there are several very disturbing features. For a start, cheaper brands of spirits are generally purchased both by the elderly on fixed incomes, & by the general population within the lower income brackets, & this applies to the younger folk as a whole.

Other disturbing evidence points to the fact that this scam is a well-organised & credible operation, both in terms of high-quality labelling, & that they have achieved distribution to a major liquor chain. Add to this the huge percentage of methanol in these spirits - which can cause blindness, coma & worse. See scans of the labels, in which phone numbers are shown, but with less than the required number of digits.

This is no little "backyard" operation. And even more worrying - in my opinion, it is doubtful that a scam of this size has originated in Australia - we're not that innovative. So take care.

Related News Links:
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[edit on 26/7/04 by Bastet]

[edit on 27-7-2004 by Zion Mainframe]

When I saw the headline, I thought it was about an event that had happened in Russia.
I'm surprised to hear about that happening in Australia.

Here's the Russian story:
www.mosnews.com...

A fifth victim of what appears to be alcohol poisoning died in the hospital in central Russia�s Vladimir Region after drinking cheap port wine, the Itar-Tass news agency reported.

The man, a 20-year-old resident of the town of Sudogda, died of kidney failure. 10 others remain in the hospital after drinking the questionable liquor that cost just over a dollar a bottle (30 rubles).

Law enforcement authorities are rushing to recall the port wine from all stores in the area, and have launched a criminal investigation.

The Tri Semyorki (Three Sevens) port wine was produced in the North Caucasus republic of Kabardino-Balkaria and shipped to Vladimir, just 200 km east of Moscow.

Deaths from poisonous substances passed off as vodka and other spirits are common in Russia, where control over the liquor industry remains shoddy despite efforts to implement stricter controls.

[edit on 26-7-2004 by AceOfBase]

Such incidents have been reported in Eastern Europe & Russia for many years. But in Oz, liquor control, bottling & bond stores are strictly controlled by the Federal Government! This is why I fear that the operation reported here may even be on a global scale.

"Name your poison" isn't a joke any more.

i'll have to keep an eye/ear out at work for anyone reporting bad alcohol (i work at a bottleshop and a pub drive thru) incase it's spreading up here to brissie.

if i hear of anything i will report it on here.

Definitely keep an eye out for those brands listed in the NSW Food Authority link, ausconspiracy.

I am gobsmacked that this has not received appropriate media coverage anywhere. I have an unsubstantiated report that inspectors are calling at homes to pick up any reported bottles of this liquor.