Illicit alcohol findings in Australia ‘deeply concerning’
“Concerning” research revealed illicit alcohol is being sold alongside legal products at licensed bottle shops in Australia.
A preliminary investigation of licensed retailers in Melbourne showed illegal bottles of vodka were being sold at a reduced price compared with rival products.
Chemical testing by the National Drug and Alcohol Research (NDARC) Centre at UNSW Sydney and the National Drug Research Institute (NDRI) at Curtin University in Perth found that bottles of vodka contained methanol and plastic contaminants.
Lead author Dr Michala Kowalski, a postdoctoral research fellow at NDARC, said: “Our results are concerning because it shows these products, with the outward appearance of a legal product, are being sold to unsuspecting customers.
“Ingestion of methanol at sufficient levels can be toxic and lead to symptoms ranging from vomiting and abdominal pain to blindness, coma and death.”
The Australian Taxation Office recently estimated the scale of illicit alcohol in the country to be worth at least AU$767 million (US$547.4m) annually.
The Australian Distillers Association said in a statement: “The Australian Distillers Association (ADA) welcomes ongoing efforts to identify and remove illicit alcohol products from the market following the release of research conducted by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) and subsequent media reporting.
“Any alcohol produced or sold outside Australia’s strict regulatory framework is deeply concerning and poses significant risks to consumer confidence, public safety and the legitimate businesses operating responsibly within the law.”
The study
As part of the NDARC’s study into illicit alcohol, the team visited four licensed bottle shops in ‘high socioeconomic areas’ in Melbourne. The aim was to get an understanding of the immediate availability of illicit alcohol.
From this small sample, larger random audits of bottle shops across several Australian states have also been conducted. The results showed ‘widespread availability of illicit alcohol’.
Dr Kowalski said about the products found to contain methanol and plastic: “While the methanol detected was not at the concentration required to cause immediate vision loss or death, it was still in breach of Australian food standards, which raises further questions about the conditions they were produced in.
“Ingestion of plasticisers at sufficient levels may also potentially cause negative long-term effects on the liver, kidneys and reproductive system.”
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