alcohol mixed with water to make fake vodka

In the months leading up to Tet, not only smuggled alcohol but also fake alcohol is becoming a prominent problem. Drinking a lot of real alcohol is harmful, but the consequences are even faster and more serious when drinking fake alcohol because alcohol is a toxic substance and should not be used in food and drink…

"Alcohol" + "water" makes fake Vodka

According to statistics from the Vietnam Beer, Alcohol and Beverage Association (VBA), each year, the whole country consumes about 200 million liters of alcohol, but only about 20% is branded alcohol, 80% is unlabeled alcohol, or village alcohol.

Authorities admit that the production and trade of fake, counterfeit and low-quality alcohol has been present in Vietnam for a long time. Due to high profits, many individuals, establishments and businesses in the country have deliberately produced fake alcohol and counterfeited alcohol labels of famous and reputable domestic and foreign alcohol brands to deceive and confuse consumers.

Choosing genuine distribution stores or reputable supermarkets is also a way for consumers to avoid buying fake wine (illustrative photo)

A popular method of producing fake wine in Vietnam is to use used wine bottles of famous brands with new labels and fake caps and corks to bottle the fake wine.

The story of Le Minh Hoa (Lam Dong) "transforming" alcohol and water into fake branded wine was brought to court in September 2015, showing the danger of this product when counterfeited.

According to the indictment, Le Minh Hoa was caught red-handed by the authorities transporting 48 bottles of fake Vodka Hanoi brand from the rented room (Hiep Binh Chanh ward, Thu Duc district) onto a motorbike to sell. Hoa often bought alcohol from the market and mixed it according to a very simple formula: 10 liters of food alcohol mixed with 20 liters of filtered water, all in a 30-liter bottle. In addition, Hoa also added sugar water to the above solution, leaving it for a few hours to ferment.

Then, Hoa poured the above mixture into 300ml and 750ml bottles of Hanoi Vodka. Hoa closed the cap by hand, using a bottle cap tightening tool and then stuck the "premium" alcohol tax stamp on the bottle cap for consumption...

Defendant Le Minh Hoa was sentenced to 2 years in prison for the above crime, but the consequences for consumers are extremely serious. In cases of drinking fake Vodka, the drinker often has symptoms of severe headaches, dizziness, nausea and chest tightness.

What to do to avoid buying fake wine?

Mr. Nguyen Duc Thinh, Vice President of the Vietnam Association for Anti-Counterfeiting and Brand Protection, said: Currently, the situation of counterfeit goods, imitation goods, and intellectual property violations has been assessed by the Government as being serious, from high-end to popular goods, especially for products related to consumers' health. This is a big challenge for the Government, enforcement forces, businesses and consumers in the context that our country is deeply integrating into the regional and global economy.

“There is no product that cannot be counterfeited. Even businesses that have put up 3 types of 3D Laser Hologram stickers; Thermal Hologram, glowing decal stickers… have all been counterfeited. Products that sell well are often easily counterfeited,” Mr. Thinh affirmed.

The State has given strong instructions to fight against counterfeit goods, and businesses also need to be responsible. For example, it is necessary to register for trademark protection to have a legal basis to protect the brand; establish and manage a tight distribution system, cooperate closely with enforcement forces and consumers... And with alcohol products directly related to consumers' health, manufacturers cannot be subjective. Proactively fighting against counterfeit alcohol is both to protect the business's brand and to protect consumers.

Applying advanced technology to produce bottles, bottle caps... is a method used by some reputable wine production enterprises to avoid counterfeiting.

As an enterprise, Mr. Mai Van Loi - General Director of Halico Company shared: "The work of combating counterfeit alcohol is not only a matter of prestige and business production efficiency of the enterprise but also a responsibility for the health of consumers. To combat the situation of real and fake confusion as happened to the Hanoi Vodka brand recently, in a breakthrough innovation with the cooperation of a famous foreign corporation and an investment capital of up to 50 million USD in alcohol production equipment, Halico not only improves the quality, focusing on safety criteria but also changes the design, applying embossing technology on the bottle shell, specialized bottle cap, which is difficult to imitate and counterfeit with conventional tools".

Regarding this issue, Mr. Phan Chi Dung - Director of the Department of Light Industry - Ministry of Industry and Trade also informed: Planning the wine industry is a conditional business item. The State does not prohibit but controls. In particular, industrial wine making is encouraged to replace manual wine making, processing facilities must meet safety standards.

In addition, many policies have been issued to limit the harmful effects of alcohol, people drink alcohol in a more cultured way and ensure health. Because alcohol, whether real or fake, brings bad effects to users when drinking too much, unable to control behavior. With real alcohol, drinking too much is harmful, but the consequences are even faster and more serious when drinking fake alcohol because alcohol is a toxic substance, not used in eating and drinking. Therefore, if you detect strange signs of the body, you need to stop drinking, quickly go to the emergency room when the condition worsens.

Consumers are also advised that, in addition to proactively researching and learning about the products they are interested in, choosing genuine distribution stores or reputable supermarkets is also a way for them to avoid buying fake wine.

According to Gia dinh.net