Citation

Neufeld M, Lachenmeier DW, Walch SG, Rehm J. F1000Res. 2017; 6: e520.

Affiliation

Institute of Medical Science (IMS), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 1A8, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, F1000 Research)

DOI

10.12688/f1000research.11418.1

PMID

28663784

PMCID

PMC5473403

Abstract

Counterfeit alcohol belongs to the category of unrecorded alcohol not reflected in official statistics. The internet trade of alcoholic beverages has been prohibited by the Russian Federation since 2007, but various sellers still offer counterfeit spirits (i.e., forged brand spirits) over the internet to Russian consumers, mostly in a non-deceptive fashion at prices up to 15 times lower than in regular sale. The public health issues arising from this unregulated trade include potential harm to underage drinkers, hazards due to toxic ingredients such as methanol, but most importantly alcohol harms due to potentially increased drinking volumes due to low prices and high availability on the internet. The internet sale also undermines existing alcohol policies such as restrictions of sale locations, sale times and minimum pricing. The need to enforce measures against counterfeiting of spirits, but specifically their internet trade should be implemented as key elements of alcohol policies to reduce unrecorded alcohol consumption, which is currently about 33 % of total consumption in Russia.

Language: en

Keywords

alcoholic beverages; counterfeit; internet sales; methanol poisoning; unrecorded alcohol