New method can tell safe spirits without opening bottle

Prague, Oct 3 (CTK) - The Czech Chemical Technology Institute has developed a method of measuring methanol concentrations in spirits without opening the bottle, Miroslava Novotna, head of the molecular spectroscopy laboratory, told CTK Wednesday.

This method is markedly cheaper and faster than classical testing and even a small device can be used to make the measurement, but it is not certified yet, Novotna said.

The laboratory is cooperating with the customs administration on the possible introduction of the new method, based on Raman spectroscopy, which has not been tested for methanol concentrations until now.

The laboratory has tested nearly 1000 alcohol samples so far.

Twenty seven people have recently died due to methanol poisoning after drinking bootleg alcohol. The Czech government imposed a ban on the sales of spirits for two weeks.