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The Highland Council’s Environmental Health Officers are warning consumers about counterfeit vodka contaminated with methanol after another illegal product had been found on sale.

Counterfeit Kirov Vodka was discovered in Kent. It is possible that it is available in other parts of the country. Two different size bottles, 70cl and 35cl were sampled and found to be contaminated with methanol. The 70cl bottle was heavily contaminated with methanol and would present a serious health risk if consumed in sufficient quantity. The 35cl bottle contained less methanol and, whilst not a serious health risk at that level, there appears to be a large variation in levels of methanol across batches, and other similar bottles may be found to contain higher levels.

The effects of methanol poisoning include abdominal pain, drowsiness and dizziness, blurred vision blindness and breathing difficulties leading to coma. Symptoms can be delayed for several hours and anyone who thinks they may have drunk one of these products should seek immediate medical advice.

Genuine bottles of Kirov vodka will have a printed red cap with a double headed eagle printed in gold and black on the top and the word ’Kirov’ printed 3 times at an angle on the cap side. The counterfeit bottles have only plain red caps. All genuine bottles of Kirov vodka will also have an ink jet lot code applied in black ink to the glass. The counterfeit bottles so far examined did not have any lot code markings.

Alan Yates, Principal Food Safety Officer, said: “Anyone who has a bottle of this vodka should not drink or sell it. If anyone discovers a bottle of this vodka they should contact their local Environmental Health office as soon as possible. As well as removing this harmful product from the market this will help us investigate the distribution of the product.”

Identification of the counterfeit bottles:

The Kirov 35cl bottle is clear with a red metal screw top with crimping along the top circumference. The cap has no markings or writing on it. The front label has gold lettering on a white background, with red/gold boxing around the word Kirov. The coat of arms has a red shield, gold crown above and gold double headed eagle on the shield. The word ‘VODKA’ is underneath in white on a red background. The words ‘PRODUCE OF UNITED KINGDOM’ and ‘HALEWOOD VINTNERS LTD, ROBERTTOWN WF15 7LL’are in black at the lower edge of the label within a red/gold box, which also contains the following information: ‘35cl e 37.5%vol’.

The back label has a white background, with a gold lined border and red letters. It has a red scroll bearing the words ‘IMPERIAL PALACE’, and a red/white crown under the name ‘KIROV’ and above ‘VODKA’. The label also contains the information ‘37.5%vol and 35cl e’ in black. It bears the bar code 5 011166 004714 in black and ‘HALEWOOD VINTNERS LTD., ROBERTTOWN WF15 7LL, UK ‘in red under the bar code.

Kirov 70cl bottle
The clear bottle has a red metal screw top with crimping along the top circumference. The cap has no markings or writing on it.

The front label has gold lettering on a white background with red /gold boxing around the word ‘KIROV’. The coat of arms has a red shield, gold crown above and gold double headed eagle on the shield. The word ‘VODKA’ is underneath in white on a red background. The words ’PRODUCE OF UNITED KINGDOM’ and ‘ HALEWOOD VINTNERS LTD, ROBERTTOWN WF15 7LL ‘are in black at the lower edge of the label within a red/gold box, which also contains the information ‘70cl e and 37.5%vol’.

The back label has a white background, with a gold lined border and red letters. It has a red scroll bearing the words ’IMPERIAL PALACE’ and a red/white crown under the name ‘KIROV’ and above ’VODKA’. The label also contains the information ‘37.5%vol and 35cl’ in black. It bears the bar code 5 011166 004707 in black and ‘HALEWOOD VINTNERS LTD., ROBERTTOWN WF15 7LL’ in red under the bar code. The label also bears two symbols in black to the right of the barcode: a black and white arrow joined in a circle and two links of a chain with the words Cotisation Securite Sociale making a circle around them.

For further information please contact Alan Yates, Principal Food Safety Officer, Highland Council TEC Services - Environmental Health, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness, IV3 5NX, Tel: 01463 702532 Fax: 01463 702606.