Representative associations of bars, restaurants, manufacturers and importers of distilled drinks are training owners and staff free of charge by providing guidelines on how to identify counterfeit or tampered drinks.
Taught by the Brazilian Association of Bars and Restaurants (Abrasel), Brazilian Association of Distilled Beverages (ABBD) and Brazilian Beverage Association (Abrabe), the courses detail how to identify signs of forgery in bottles, lids, labels and liquids.
According to the entities, the analysis should start with the lid, considered the main safety point of the products: original lids have precise finish, without kneading or spacing and with high quality printed art. The presence of overlapping plastic seals to decorated lids is a strong indicative of tampering, according to the associations.
Another point of attention is the tax seal, mandatory in imported distilled drinks. Produced by the Brazilian Mint, the authentic seal has holography that reveals only one letter at a time – R, F or B. If all letters are visible simultaneously, there is the possibility of the seal being falsified.
According to associations, bottles of the same brand should have the same level of filling and translucent liquids without impurities. Coloring differences between units may indicate forgery.
The entities point out that legitimate products have high quality printing, with mandatory information in Portuguese, such as ingredients, origin and registration number at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (Mapa). Graffiti errors are considered clear signs of forgery.
Care
“Training warns of the legal and social risks of the illegal market. Establishments that buy from informal channels or stop caution in the acquisition of drinks can be held criminally responsible,” the associations say in a statement.
The course also guides the correct disposal of empty bottles. For the entities, 100% of the counterfeit drinks identified in police operations were pulled into original reused bottles.
“The expansion of this market [informal] In Brazil not only endanger the health of the population. An illegal product is sold on average 35% cheaper than the original. The difference can reach up to 48%, the result of the high tax burden of the sector and impunity, which are among the main factors that stimulate illicit trade, ”said ABBD President Eduardo Cidade.
According to a survey, made in April, by the Research and Statistics Center of the Federation of Hotels, Bars and Restaurants of the State of São Paulo (Fhoresp), 36% of beverages sold in Brazil are fake, adulterated or smuggled.
“We guide companies to redouble our attention on purchases: always check the origin of products, purchase only known suppliers and demand the invoice. Whenever possible, it is recommended to check the authenticity of the note with the IRS to avoid the risk of using cold notes,” the federation said in a statement.
The entity stressed that care should be intensified at parties held outside the controlled environments, in places without permit and without inspection. “In these places, the presence of counterfeit and dangerous drinks is even more recurrent, putting the health of consumers at extreme risk.”
Fear changes habits
Cases of alcohol contamination with methanol in the state of São Paulo have changed social meetings in the state capital. The waiter Marcílio Eduardo Ferreira da Silva Júnior said he may have to suspend the birthday party, which would hold a bar in the center of São Paulo.
“Saturday now is my birthday and I would do [a comemoração] here at the bar. But in the face of these things that are happening, with adulterated drinks, I’m thinking of not doing. It’s sad, I’m afraid, I like to drink gin, I like to drink whiskey, but I don’t think it will have, ”he says.
Rafael Douglas Martins, an employee of a bar in Santa Cecilia, a neighborhood of the west of São Paulo, says that the consumption of drinks distilled during the week has fallen. And from this Thursday (2), the bar itself decided to stop selling them by precaution. The return on sales will only occur after the situation normalizes.
“Today we suspended sales for more security, both customer and ours as well. We are not selling spirits, which is the whiskeythe ginand even caipirinha and vodka, ”he said.
Martins points out that the decision to stop selling occurred even having reliable suppliers. “They are reliable, we have a note, all right. It’s always the same supplier ever,” he concludes.
*Collaborated TV Brasil
