A WARNING has been issued to consumers and businesses in Sidmouth after a contaminated batch of counterfeit vodka was discovered.
A WARNING has been issued to consumers and businesses in Sidmouth after a contaminated batch of counterfeit vodka was discovered.
Devon's Trading Standards Service raised the alarm over a fake batch of Spar Imperial Vodka.
The advice is to avoid the bottles as they contain dangerous levels of methanol, which can cause permanent blindness. Testing has shown that the vodka is only 31 per cent alcohol, rather than the 37.5 per cent declared.
Bottles of the counterfeit samples can be identified by the code QI:1445c and a smudged inkjet code reading that looks like 102234 04/08/02. There is also no lot code present on bottle necks.
Trading standards have warned that bottles may turn up at car boot sales or other outlets, the easiest way to identify fake bottles is that the genuine Imperial Vodka is only available from SPAR (UK) Ltd stores.
Anybody who sees the spirit for sale, or has purchased a bottle should call Trading Standards on (01392) 381381.
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