This review (open access) covers reported incidents of counterfeit spirits over the past 20 years. It includes estimates of the economic cost as well as fatalities and serious injuries.
Estimations of counterfeit spirits range from 25% to 40% of total alcoholic spirits consumed globally. Including knock-on effects, these products cost the EU alone 23,400 lost jobs and at least €3B in lost revenue per year. Annually there is at least €1.2B in lost government revenue. Counterfeit products decrease legitimate sales, both by replacement sales, and by the erosion of consumer product trust and satisfaction of legitimate goods and decrease legitimate manufacturing jobs. The authors review the worldwide problem, scope, and scale of the spirits counterfeiting problem including specific health issues, and the international plight of reduced labour available resulting directly from production and sale of counterfeited liquor.
The authors also review, at a high level, the methods and technologies that have been published to analytically detect chemically adulterated or substituted products that have been published. The categorise the analytical technologies into four functional areas highlighting economy, generality, and utility. Finally, the authors discuss approaches to prevention.
Photo by Devin Berko on Unsplash
Comments