bought vodka from licensed IGA retailer found to contain key ingredient in paint stripper
An investigation by ABC News found that a brand of vodka sold in Australian retail stores contained tert-butyl alcohol, a chemical used in industrial paint strippers. Experts warn that the product is unsafe for human consumption and likely consists of repackaged industrial alcohol.
Why it matters
This highlights a significant public health risk and potential failure in food safety regulation and supply chain oversight for consumer goods.
This bottle of Dirty George vodka was found to contain an ingredient that is not meant for human consumption. ( ABC News: Andy Altree-Williams )
Link copied Share Share article More than a litre of vodka being sold in store for just $59 might seem like a bargain but what testing undertaken by 7.30 found was that the perceived value was not worth the risk.
After purchasing the bottle of Dirty George vodka from a legitimate Melbourne IGA liquor store, we took it to an independent testing lab.
Those tests detected the presence of tert-butyl alcohol, which is a key ingredient in industrial cleaners like paint stripper.
"We detected tert-butyl alcohol at about 500 milligrams per litre," said John Leeder, managing director of Leeder Analytical Laboratory, which routinely tests beer, wine and spirits for impurities and methanol.
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