ENVIRONMENTAL health officers are warning people in Suffolk about bottles of counterfeit vodka that have been found to have excessive levels of methanol which could cause ill-health.

ENVIRONMENTAL health officers are warning people in Suffolk about bottles of counterfeit vodka that have been found to have excessive levels of methanol which could cause ill-health.

None of the bottles have so far turned up in the county, but councils say there is a risk that they could turn up anywhere.

The counterfeit bottles claim to be Imperial Vodka, 70cl, specially selected by Spar, pure and smooth, triple distilled.

A Suffolk Coastal council spokesman said: “The 70cl bottles are not genuine and while branded as Spar they are based on a pre-2007 label design.

“Inspection of the label shows that the duty stamp is incorrect and does not fluoresce under UV light, while the body of the text is blurred in places, particularly around the back of the label, while some of the images are also blurred.

“The actual bottles are also different from the normal Spar Imperial bottles. The counterfeits are Quinn Glass and have the code of QI:1445c and a smudged inkjet code which looks like 102234 04/08/02.”

An excess intake of methanol could cause poisoning, with symptoms such as nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain, drowsiness and dizziness, blurred vision leading to blindness, and breathing difficulties.

Any member of the public or retailer worried they may have one of the counterfeit bottles should contact environmental health officers for expert advice - in Suffolk Coastal they should call 01394 444357.