'Look out for dangerous fake whisky'

Following recent alerts about counterfeit Valkonov Vodka, a new notice has gone out about two fake brands of whisky which contain harmful levels of methanol.

Bottles of fake Johnnie Walker Black Label whisky have been found in Berkshire and officers fear it could have been distributed to other areas around the country.

A stock of counterfeit labels for a product called Highland Pride Finest Scotch Whisky have also been discovered, leading officers to believe contaminated products bearing these labels may be in circulation.

Local officers are now checking businesses in West Yorkshire to make sure neither of the fake whiskies are being sold locally.

Councillor Graham Clarke, chairman of the West Yorkshire Trading Standards Committee, warned: "Methanol can cause serious harm including abdominal pain, breathing difficulties, blurred vision and even blindness.

"Those who have bottled such products clearly have no regard for the safety of the people who might drink them. I would ask the public to look out for these products as we need information to trace the source of supply."

Stressing that genuine bottles of both brands are unaffected and safe, Trading Standards says there are clear ways of identifying the counterfeits.

For Johnnie Walker, these are if:

l The rear label is printed in Spanish

l The fake lot code L04P24878342 is printed on the rear of the front centre label

l 'Distilleries' and not 'Distillers' is printed on the Royal Warrant

l There is no 'e' mark on the base of the bottle

For Highland Pride (Front Label), fakes can be identified if:

l The bottle states '1L' - the genuine states '1 Litre'

l The bottle states '40% vol' - genuine states '43% Vol'

l The bottle says 'PRODUCED AND BOTTLED IN SCOTLAND' - the genuine states 'BOTTLED IN SCOTLAND'.

Anyone who thinks they may have stocked or bought these products should contact the Consumer Helpline on 0113 3 848 848 between 8.30am and 6.30pm, Monday to Friday, and 9am and1pm on Saturdays.