Can you drink on Happy Hour this Friday? What the authorities recommend

Note the presentation of the packaging and the appearance of the product. Be wary of crooked or “different” seal or lid, misaligned or worn label, spelling errors or “variations”, absence of information such as CNPJ, manufacturer or distributor address, lot number, and other noticeable imperfection.

There is no way to identify methanol during drink consumption. There is no reliable homemade tests and the substance does not change the taste either, as it is very similar to ethanol, which is used in manufacturing. It is only discovered that methanol was present by symptoms and after clinical examinations.

Methanol does not have an unpleasant smell, nor a bad flavor. He mixes well with the drink, that is, when this contaminant is present, he goes unnoticed by those who are ingesting. This makes methanol intoxication a very treacherous feat. Álvaro Pulchinelli Junior, toxicologist, president of the Brazilian Society of Clinical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (SBPC/ML).

“People need to be informed.” Mariana de Moura Pereira, a specialist in clinical analysis and researcher at the USP toxicology laboratory, says it is essential that control bodies keep the society informed about cases of intoxication and seizures of irregular beverages to avoid new victims.

Why is the risk of methanol higher in the distillates?

Methanol adulteration almost always occurs in illegal or counterfeit spirits. This is because incorrect or fraudulent distillation can concentrate methanol at lethal levels, without change in color or noticeable flavor.