News
Illegally Brewed Alcohol May Be on the Increase
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December 16, 2011 TheFreshOutlook  |
The number of people killed after drinking illegally brewed alcohol has reached 140, while 162 have now died in Sangrampur.
Yesterday it was reported that 100 people have died in Diamond Harbour, west Bengal, after drinking illegally distilled alcohol known locally as chpeti or desi daroo. This death toll has since been raised to 140.
Similar incidences are occurring elsewhere.
Today there are reports of more deaths in west Bengal, in a town 25 miles from Diamond Harbour called Sangrampur. 162 people are said to be dead after drinking the alcohol.
West Bengal state’s chief minister Mamata Banerjee has ordered that the illegal distillers and sellers be dealt with.
“Consumption of illicit liquor is a social disease [which] has to be eradicated. I want to take strong action against those manufacturing and selling illegal liquor, but this is a social problem also, and this has to be dealt with socially also,” she said.
Although alcohol consumption is a taboo in many Indian cultures and religions, around 5% of the country’s citizens are thought to be alcoholics.
The sale and consumption of illegally brewed alcohol is not isolated to India. Today BBC Newsbeat has reported that some shops in the UK have also been selling illegally brewed spirits.
In some areas, thousands of litres of fake alcohol have been confiscated from off-licences.
Over 2000 bottles of counterfeit alcohol were confiscated during raids that took place across central England, and similar numbers have been found elsewhere in the country.
Amy Baskerville, a student from London, told the BBC about her experience. She said that the cheap vodka that she and her partner drank did not make them drunk, only feel ill: “We were told [by Trading Standards] that our bottle had chloroform, acetone and isopropyl alcohol in it. It was a couple of pounds cheaper than more well-branded vodkas. It’s surprising how you go for the cheapest thing on the shelf.”
Chloroform, acetone and isopropyl alcohol are the same chemicals that are found in cleaning products. These chemicals, and similar ones, are commonly found in cheap alcohol.
Chip Somers, cChief executive of the charity Focus21 advised The Fresh Outlook: “Try to buy reputable brands and try to buy from reputable wholesalers so that you can be a little bit more confident that what you’re dealing with is a genuine article…I think if you’re buying a product that is infinitely cheaper than it should be, that’s probably a good warning sign that something might be wrong.”
By Louisa Guise
[Image courtesy of kalleboo]
