Counterfeit Alcohol - Alert - Health Risks

Food Standards Scotland (FSS)  has issued information to consumers to help identify counterfeit alcohol following recent seizures of counterfeit vodka products, fraudulently labelled as ‘Glen’s Vodka’. FSS would be grateful if you could please share the information below through your networks about the serious health risks to consumers from the consumption of counterfeit vodka products.

By way of further background, lab results from counterfeit vodka sampled in August 2024 confirmed the presence of the chemical isopropyl. Isopropanol (isopropyl, IPA) is a toxic alcohol not suitable for human consumption. Ingestion of any amount can lead to toxicity, and larger amounts can be fatal. Ingested IPA will be converted to acetone and so the onset of symptoms may be immediate or delayed, for up to 30 hours post ingestion.  Symptoms include nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain, intoxication, respiratory depression and coma. Cardiovascular collapse is also possible. 

Anyone with symptoms should seek medical attention and call NHS 111 in the first instance, or call 999 in an emergency. Please be aware IPA has a strong odour, and it may be possible to detect contaminated products by smell alone.

FSS has issued a Food Alert For Action (FAFA) Notice to all 32 Local Authorities in Scotland, requesting that they take the following action:

1. Work with their colleagues from Licensing Standards and Trading Standards to identify establishments where intelligence indicates that this counterfeit product could be stocked;

2. Visit the relevant establishments identified to check for counterfeit product, and to make Food Business Operators aware of this issue; and

3. Be vigilant to potential counterfeit products during interventions at other establishments.

Please note that the extent of the distribution of the counterfeit vodka is currently unknown, but FSS can confirm that local authorities have, so far, visited 1,232 shop premises as a result of this incident and, to date, 231 bottles of counterfeit vodka, fraudulently labelled as ‘Glen’s’ have been recovered, and removed from sale at 9 businesses from 8 Local Authority areas across the central belt of Scotland.

FSS continues in an attempt to identify the source of production and distribution of these products.

FSS has been working closely with the brand owner for Glen’s vodka to try and mitigate the risk to consumers.  FSS has also been liaising with partners to issue risk communication since the beginning of the incidents including:

• First line responders

• Consumers

• Local Authorities/Regulators

• Key Stakeholders including retailors/associations

• Charities involved in alcohol 

As a result, additional information has been provided to help consumers distinguish between genuine and counterfeit products. This information can be accessed at:

• https://www.foodstandards.gov.scot/news-and-alerts/food-standards-scotland-issues-information-to-consumers-after-further-seizures-of-counterfeit-alcohol

• https://www.foodstandards.gov.scot/news-and-alerts/fss-issues-public-health-warning-after-potentially-harmful-counterfeit-vodka-discovered

• https://www.foodstandards.gov.scot/news-and-alerts/food-standards-scotland-and-north-lanarkshire-council-warn-consumers-following-discovery-of-counterfeit-alcohol-in-coatbridge

FSS would be grateful if you could please circulate this information through your networks, and advise anyone who believes they may have purchased such products, to contact the FSS’s Scottish Food Crime and Incidents Unit – foodcrime@fss.scot – for further advice. They should not drink any of the product, which should be immediately stored in a safe place to allow FSS to collect, and to analyse the product. Please also note that, if anyone has any information on the manufacture or sale of counterfeit alcohol,  they should contact the Scottish Food Crime Hotline (0800 028 7926) or online, in partnership with Crimestoppers. The hotline is free and anonymous.