Methanol Contamination of Counterfeit Johnnie Walker Black Label Whisky

Wednesday 6 November 2002

Category B: For Action

Heads of Environmental Health Services will wish to be aware of an incidence of methanol contamination of counterfeit Johnnie Walker Black Label Whisky available in the London area; primarily in the London Borough of Hackney.

Diageo Great Britain Limited, the distributor of genuine JOHNNIE WALKER BLACK LABEL® in the UK, have advised the Food Standards Agency that this product is not genuine JOHNNIE WALKER BLACK LABEL®. Both the packaging and liquid are counterfeit.

Symptoms of methanol poisoning include:

Severe abdominal pain
Drowsiness
Dizziness
Blurred vision leading to blindness
Coma with breathing difficulties

The symptoms of methanol poisoning can be delayed for several hours so anyone who may have drunk this counterfeit whisky may not be immediately aware of its dangers.

Action taken by the London Borough of Hackney

Hackney Commercial Standards (the Trading Standards and Environmental Health teams) are aware of the problem and are conducting their own investigation. To date 50 bottles have been found on sale in 11 shops in Hackney and more than 100 premises have been checked by Hackney officers. The CCDC for the area has also been alerted. Samples have been sent to the public analyst and to the Diageo Brand Technical centre laboratory in Scotland.

L.B Hackney has contacted a number of London Boroughs who are checking potential suppliers, as no information is currently available on the source or origin of this counterfeit product. Information has been circulated to local traders.

L.B Hackney has circulated information to all Local Authority Trading Standards and Environmental Health Departments; a message was sent by TS Interlink and EHCnet to alert them to the problem. L.B Hackney is liaising with the Food Standards Agency and Hertfordshire Trading Standards who are the Home Authority for the company Diageo (formerly UDV) who produce Johnnie Walker Black Label. The contact at L.B of Hackney is John Bradbury, who can be contacted on: 020 8356 4702.

Action taken by the FSA

The FSA has been kept informed and is working with both the L.B Hackney and the company Diageo. The FSA has also been liasing with all Territorial offices, Defra and the Chemical Incident Response Unit.

There is no maximum limit for methanol in whisky. However, the natural level of methanol found in whisky is very low at approximately 8g/100 litres of absolute alcohol, which equates to approximately 20ppm (mg/l).

The level of methanol found in this counterfeit product is 2000 times the normal level.

To date the FSA has no information on the possible distribution of this product, but if further information becomes available, Local Authorities will be advised accordingly.

Action to be taken by local authorities

The products detailed below do not comply with the food safety requirements specified in the Food Safety Act 1990 due to contamination with methanol.

Local Authorities are asked to make all enquiries they deem necessary to identify whether the counterfeit product may be on sale in their area. In particular it is recommended that all licensed premises are contacted and made aware of the problem.

If this product is found, enforcement officers should ensure that it is withdrawn from sale and destroyed, if necessary using powers under the Food Safety Act 1990.

If a Local Authority finds a level of methanol in this counterfeit product, upon analysis, on which they require advice, please contact Nicholas Ball at the Agency on: 020 7276 8524

Local Authorities may wish to consider the use of local publicity, where appropriate.

Identification of the Counterfeit Product

The counterfeit product can be easily differentiated from genuine JOHNNIE WALKER BLACK LABEL Scotch Whisky in the following ways:

• All counterfeit bottles have Spanish language rear labels and a fake lot code “L04P24878342” printed on the rear of the front centre label;
• The word ‘Distillers’ in the Royal Warrant statement on the counterfeit bottles’ neck labels is incorrectly spelt as 'Distilleries'
• The counterfeit bottles have no “E mark” on the base between “700ml and 73mm”

It is expected that action by local authorities will be initiated as soon as possible after receipt of this food hazard warning.