The Philippines’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ordered the confiscation of controversial local craft gin Cosmic Carabao after samples of the liquor tested positive for a “high level” of methanol, the government agency said in an advisory today.
The FDA’s Field Regulatory Operations Office inspectors and Regulatory Enforcement Unit officers are in charge of seizing Cosmic Carabao bottles from the market. Local governments and law enforcement agencies are also tasked with ensuring that the gin is not sold in their areas.
“The FDA hereby warns the public on the consumption of the implicated product as this is currently unregistered and has been confirmed to contain a high level of methanol,” the document states.
Cosmic Carabao is a craft gin by local manufacturer Juan Brew. Allegations that it caused a woman’s death and another one to go unconscious because of methanol poisoning went viral late last month and prompted the FDA to launch an investigation.
But even before test results came out, the agency already warned that Cosmic Carabao should have not been sold in the first place because it was not yet FDA-approved.
According to the FDA’s advisory today, methanol can be found in household products and aircraft fuel. Non-toxic traces of the chemical can be present in fruit juices or as a product of natural fermentation in alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. It said that higher concentrations of methanol in alcoholic beverages can happen when the chemical is deliberately added to alcoholic drinks.
Symptoms of methanol poisoning include headache, vomiting, abdominal pain, hyperventilation, breathlessness, and even blindness.
The agency advised the public to be cautious about drinking beverages that have not gone through FDA testing and those without proper labels.
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