Counterfeit booze with anti-freeze: will you recognize it?

It is not common, but unfortunately happens to find some counterfeit alcohol on/under the counter.

Commonly used substitutes for ethanol include chemicals used in cleaning fluids, nail polish remover and automobile screen wash, as well as methanol and isopropanol which are used in antifreeze and some fuels… You wouldn’t like to drink that, would you? Here are some tips on how to spot fake spirits:

1) Check the bottle has a properly sealed cap

Look closely at the cap of a bottle before buying it – if there is a gap between the seal ring and the bottle cap, the bottle has been opened. Even if the alcohol isn’t counterfeit, it may have been watered down or tampered with in some other way.

2) Watch out for fake bar codes

Most fake vodka bottles will have bar codes on them to make them look authentic, but they may not be properly registered. You can get a bar-code reader app on your phone to check whether a bar code is real or not.

3) Real spirits do not have sediments in it

Real spirits (i.e. vodka) are totally clear, and have no sediments at the bottom of the bottle or particles floating in it. If you can see tiny particles floating in a bottle, it probably means the alcohol has been watered down with tap or unfiltered water. Sediment at the bottom may be a by-product of the production process of fake spirits, and certainly shouldn’t be there.

4) Check for spelling mistakes on the label

Criminal gangs do not tend to employ proof editors and mistakes on labels are more common than you might think. A recent haul in Leicestershire had labels that misspelled “bottled” as “botteled”.

5) Don’t buy booze from under the counter

Dodgy shops might offer you booze from ‘under the counter’ at a discount. The risk of buying counterfeit products is much higher in these secret deals: they are not subject to trading standards checks, and the person you are dealing with is clearly okay with breaking the law to make a few quid on the side.

6) Buy from a reputable supermarket or off-licence

Counterfeiters tend to sell their wares to independent shops where they may lack the expertise or accountability systems to stop fake booze being sold. If you’re worried about a place, sticking to a reputable supermarket chain or a specialist off-licence you know well may be a good idea.

7) Google cheap brands you’ve never heard of

Most counterfeiters try to fake popular brands like Glen’s or Smirnoff, but sometimes they will just make one up. You can Google cheaper brands you’ve never heard of on your phone to reassure you there isn’t a warning out about them.

8) Check it has a proper ‘duty paid’ sticker

This is what a proper ‘duty paid’ sticker looks like. Some counterfeiters fake them, but if a bottle is missing on it’s likely to be illegal.

9) If the price looks too good to be true, it probably is

The sad fact about drinking spirits in this country is that they are expensive. The tax on a 70cl bottle of 37.5% Vodka is around £7.50. If you paid less than this then the retailer would be making a loss on the sale of a legitimate bottle and it’s likely something else is going on.

10) If it smells like nail polish, don’t drink it

Even the most awful student night vodka should not smell like nail polish. Nail products’ characteristic smell comes from a different chemical which should not be found in vodka. If you open a bottle and it smells like nail varnish, don’t drink it. 

A perfect fake could in theory be indistinguishable from a real bottle of vodka, but if you don’t break any of these rules you should be okay.