Watch what you drink

carmen · 09-12-2012, 05:02 PM

I have heard of stories like this before but first hand I do not recall any. I never drink the cheap stuff anymore either but wow. Could you imagine being overseas on a vacation and something like this happened. It makes me want to check our imports now no doubt.

oldsarge · 09-12-2012, 06:21 PM

Same thing happened in the US during prohibition. Bootleg liquor was sometimes made in bath tubs (bath tub gin), sometimes straight alcohol with coloring added, not to mention what ever else they could add. I recently watched a show on it, I think it was Modern Marvels.

JeepThrills · 09-12-2012, 06:29 PM

I have a friend that lives in Prague. I will have to ask her about this. She is a big wine drinker, but I think she stays away from the stronger stuff.

**CozInCowtown** · 09-12-2012, 08:09 PM

Another reason I don't drink.

Stolen from Grandpa..............

wvbreamfisherman · 09-12-2012, 08:13 PM

People have also been known to spike wine with diethylene glycol and/or ethylene glycol to enhance the sweet taste (both glycols are sweet, but highly toxic).

Here a few years back, the Chinese adulterated food with melamine (used in plastics, and very cheap) because it appeared as a higher protein content when the food was tested.

One time recently, my company ordered 300kg of a chemical from a Chinese supplier. It came in as 3x 100kg drums, all marked with the same lot number. The appearance of the stuff should be a white crystalline powder, much like sugar.

One drum was a nice white crystalline powder. The second was very pale pink, and the third was a very light tan. We immediately had analyses run on all three drums, and fortunately for us, all were the right substance, and the material was satisfactory for our need.

Moral of the story, don't trust your suppliers blindly, or as Ronald Reagan said, "Trust, but verify!"

Pathfinder1 · 09-12-2012, 08:21 PM

Hi...

The perps should be drawn and quartered...then randomly put together.

(That's me on the right).

Esperahol · 09-13-2012, 01:32 AM

If you're gonna drink then either get the good stuff or make sure you see where this liquor is coming from. Also remember that you only drink if the owner/seller drinks. If he don't want then neither do you.

Marshmallow · 09-13-2012, 04:17 AM

This just goes to show you really can't trust any source 100% if you want to make certain you're not drinking or ingesting something other than what you opted for. Remember the People's Temple, Jim Jones and his cyanide-laced Kool-Aid? Those people thought they were on their way.

shaun · 09-13-2012, 06:06 AM

I find it rather ironic that methanol is noted as a toxic substance when alcohol itself is toxic! I would never drink black market alcohol because I have heard some horror stories. There is no regulation, you are risking your life!

wvbreamfisherman · 09-13-2012, 08:42 AM

Everything is toxic in a sufficient dose- If you drink sufficient water quickly enough, you will die.

Ethanol (what you mean by "alcohol") is relatively non-toxic by comparison to other alcohols such as methanol or propanol.

Ethanol is oxidized in the body by the alcohol dehydrognease enzyme to acetaldehyde, which actually is the active principle (acetaldehyde and its trichlorinated derivative -chloral hydrate have been used medically as sedatives).

Methanol is oxidized by the same enzyme to formaldehyde, which as we all know, is nasty stuff. Propanol goes to propionaldehyde, which is also quite toxic.