The Composition of Alcohol Products from Markets in Lithuania and Hungary, and Potential Health Consequences: A Pilot Study

Lachenmeier, Dirk W.; Sarsh, Bart; Rehm, J

doi:10.1093/alcalc/agn095

Cited by 78 publications

(87 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Unrecorded alcohol is a summary term for a number of categories not registered in the country where it was consumed. Four main categories can be distinguished (see [2], their Figure 1):i Illegally produced or smuggled alcohol products (including illegal homemade alcohol). ii Surrogate alcohol: non-beverage alcohol products not intended officially for human consumption, such as industrial alcohol, mouthwash or eau de cologne [3].…”

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Unrecorded alcohol: a threat to public health?

LACHENMEIER,

REHM

2009

Addiction

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Headlines such as this [1] appear in newspapers with certain regularity, more often than not referring to incidences and outbreaks in low-and middle-income parts of the world. These incendiary statements also often refer to death or fatal consequences through the usage of so-called 'unrecorded alcohol'. Unrecorded alcohol is a summary term for a number of categories not registered in the country where it was consumed. Four main categories can be distinguished (see [2], their Figure 1):i Illegally produced or smuggled alcohol products (including illegal homemade alcohol). ii Surrogate alcohol: non-beverage alcohol products not intended officially for human consumption, such as industrial alcohol, mouthwash or eau de cologne [3]. iii Alcohol products that are recorded, but not in the jurisdiction of consumption (e.g. cross-border shopping). iv Legal but unrecorded alcohol products (homemade or other).In 2000 30% of global alcohol consumption was estimated to be unrecorded [4,5], with a high proportion in low-income countries and in the former Soviet Union. These estimates, based usually upon expert opinion or surveys [6], carry substantial uncertainty [5][6][7] and have many open questions. Thus, the regional distribution of the four subcategories cannot be quantified. As most of the unrecorded alcohol consumption is in countries such as India, China, Brazil, Russia or in the African continent, category 3, including mainly cross-border shopping, is clearly not very relevant on a global level, but it may still constitute a sizeable portion in some parts of the world, such as the Nordic countries [8]. More important, however, are questions about whether there are substantial effects from unrecorded consumption on public health over and above the effect of ethanol alone. Table 1 shows an overview of potential components which could pose a public health threat, and the level of evidence. In considering this issue two main questions arise: (1) what is the evidence on causality for the links to health; and (2) what is the prevalence of additional harmful components in unrecorded alcohol around the world? POTENTIAL COMPONENTS OF UNRECORDED CONSUMPTION WHICH COULD POSE A PUBLIC HEALTH THREATTo date, neither of the questions has been answered conclusively. While it is beyond the scope of an editorial to review systematically the level of evidence by component, we will give some illustrations of the underlying problems using the example of a recent publication [9]. THE POLITICAL DIMENSION: THE INTERESTS OF THE ALCOHOL INDUSTRYGiven the global level of unrecorded consumption it is obvious that the alcohol industry, with the exception of cross-border trading or some minor categories, has a keen interest in its reduction. Thus, it is no surprise that the International Center for Alcohol Policies (ICAP), a notfor-profit organization funded by leading producers of beverage alcohol, has published repeatedly on unrecorded consumption and potential health problems [10]. In their most recent publication, Noncommercial Alcohol in Thr...

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“…Unrecorded alcohol is a summary term for a number of categories not registered in the country where it was consumed. Four main categories can be distinguished (see [2], their Figure 1):…”

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confidence: 99%

Unrecorded alcohol: a threat to public health?

LACHENMEIER,

REHM

2009

Addiction

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“…14 Levels of these substances in Brazilian vodkas are in line with concentrations reported in vodkas from Hungary, Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Vietnam. [10][11][12][13] With respect to methanol results (not shown in Table 1), all vodka samples contained below 0.5 mg/100 mL of pure ethanol (analytical quantification limit), and therefore lay within limits allowed under Brazilian and EU regulations (20 and 10 mg/100 mL pure ethanol, respectively). 14,16 Higher concentration ranges for methanol, however, have been reported in vodkas from Poland (nd-12 mg/100 ml pure ethanol), 11 Ukraine (0.6-7.4 mg/100 mL pure ethanol), 12 Hungary and Lithuania (nd-20 mg/100 ml pure ethanol).…”

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confidence: 76%

“…14,16 Higher concentration ranges for methanol, however, have been reported in vodkas from Poland (nd-12 mg/100 ml pure ethanol), 11 Ukraine (0.6-7.4 mg/100 mL pure ethanol), 12 Hungary and Lithuania (nd-20 mg/100 ml pure ethanol). 13 A median of 37.6 % vol. for alcoholic strength was found for vodkas from Brazil (Table 1), with most samples (91%) compliant with Brazilian regulation.…”

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Brazilian vodkas have undetectable levels of ethyl carbamate

S.¹,

A.²,

Nóbrega³

et al. 2013

Quím. Nova

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Recebido em 25/9/12; aceito em 21/1/13; publicado na web em 14/5/13While in Europe vodka is mainly derived from potatoes or cereals, a large proportion of Brazilian vodka is likely obtained from sugarcane, which contains ethyl carbamate (EC) precursors. EC, in addition to several other contaminants and congeners, were investigated in 32 samples of Brazilian vodka. All samples complied with the Brazilian regulations for congeners and contaminants, having EC content below 0.01 mg/L (detection limit). These results are probably related to the processing of vodka, in particular the use of extractive and rectifying stainless steel distillation columns, which allow the production of high strength spirits with low levels of congeners and contaminants.

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Can Policy Overcome Tradition? Assessing Russia's Ongoing Anti‐Alcohol Campaign

Schrad¹

2014

World Med & Health Policy

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Even following the years of economic and demographic crisis of the 1990s, the Russian Federation still ranks among the hardest drinking countries on earth, with alarming consequences for public health. In 2009, then-president Dmitry Medvedev initiated the most ambitious campaign against drunkenness since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Based on preliminary evidence from official and unofficial sources, this article attempts an early consideration of the effectiveness of Russia's new alcohol-control policies. Alcohol-related mortality statistics show continued improvement since the beginning of the campaign, while alcohol consumption statistics are more ambiguous, casting doubt as to the effectiveness of the policies begun in 2009.

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The Composition of Alcohol Products from Markets in Lithuania and Hungary, and Potential Health Consequences: A Pilot Study

Cited by 78 publications

References 27 publications

Unrecorded alcohol: a threat to public health?

Unrecorded alcohol: a threat to public health?

Brazilian vodkas have undetectable levels of ethyl carbamate

Can Policy Overcome Tradition? Assessing Russia's Ongoing Anti‐Alcohol Campaign

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