drinking

People are urged to exercise a high level of caution

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has issued a new warning to winter holidaymakers regarding the severe dangers of contaminated alcohol abroad. In a social media alert published today (November 9) on X, the FCDO urged travellers to exercise extreme caution when purchasing or consuming alcoholic drinks while travelling.

The warning comes amid heightened international concern over toxic bootleg alcohol outbreaks in popular tourist destinations. It reads: “Have a holiday booked this winter? In some parts of the world, alcohol can be contaminated with methanol, which can cause serious illness or even death. Avoid homemade, ‘bootleg’ or streetside alcohol.”

According to the FCDO, alcohol in several parts of the world can be contaminated with methanol, which is a highly toxic form of alcohol normally used in industrial products. Even a small amount of methanol can cause permanent blindness, organ failure, or death.

The government body explicitly warned holidaymakers to strictly avoid homemade, “bootleg,” or streetside alcohol to protect themselves. The safety alert applies broadly across global holiday hotspots, but the FCDO currently flags dozens of countries under its “Know the Signs” safety awareness guidelines.

Travellers should be particularly vigilant in parts of South East Asia, including Thailand, Laos, Indonesia, and Vietnam. The risks are also highlighted in major holiday destinations across the Americas, such as Mexico, Costa Rica, and Brazil, as well as Turkey, India, and various nations across Africa.

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List of destinations where travellers are urged to be highly vigilant:

• South East Asia: Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines
• The Americas: Mexico, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Papua New Guinea
• Europe and Central Asia: Turkey, Russia
• East Asia: Japan
• Africa: Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, South Africa, Malawi, Morocco, Libya, Rwanda
• South and Western Asia: India, Bangladesh, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Nepal
• Oceania: Fiji

The risk of encountering poisoned drinks is highest in areas with weak regulatory oversight or where illegal manufacturing thrives. Illicit producers often deliberately use cheap industrial chemicals such as methanol to stretch their alcohol supplies and maximise profit margins.

Backpacker hubs, informal street markets, and remote beach towns are frequent locations for these incidents. Health experts note that counterfeit alcohol is frequently used in cheap local spirits, complimentary “free shots” at bars, and mass-produced versions of traditional national drinks.

To stay safe while travelling, the FCDO and travel clinics advise tourists to completely avoid open drink buckets, pre-made punches, and unbranded spirits. Travellers should never buy alcohol from street-side stalls or unlicensed vendors.

Instead, holidaymakers are advised to stick to branded beers, ciders, and wines. Where possible, always choose drinks served in sealed bottles or cans, opened directly in front of you, and only purchase alcohol from reputable, fully licensed establishments such as major hotels and established restaurants.

Real-life cases

Recent years have seen high-profile and tragic real-life cases of methanol-contaminated alcohol poisoning, particularly affecting international tourists in popular backpacking and holiday hubs. For example, in Vang Vieng, Laos, during November 2024, in a mass poisoning event that made global headlines, six young foreign tourists died after consuming what were believed to be free vodka shots at the Nana Backpacker Hostel.

The victims included 28-year-old British lawyer Simone White, two 19-year-old Australian teenagers (Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles), two Danish citizens, and an American tourist. Over a dozen others were severely sickened or hospitalised. Investigation teams later traced the source to an illegal factory outside the capital that was supplying local venues with bootleg spirits heavily laced with industrial methanol.

In Fiji, during December 2024, seven foreign tourists, including Australian and American nationals, had to be rushed to the hospital with acute neurological symptoms, nausea, and vomiting after drinking contaminated cocktails at a luxury five-star resort along Fiji’s Coral Coast.

What are the signs to look out for?

Methanol poisoning is a life-threatening medical emergency that typically manifests 12 to 24 hours after consuming contaminated alcohol. Because the toxic chemical is indistinguishable by sight, taste, or smell from normal alcohol, it is impossible to detect in a glass.

While initial symptoms can mimic a standard, severe hangover with intense nausea, vomiting, headaches, and dizziness, the condition quickly progresses to cause unique, critical warning signs. Most distinctively, victims experience profound visual disturbances, such as blurred vision, seeing flashes of light, or feeling like they are “in a snowstorm”, alongside severe abdominal pain, confusion, difficulty breathing, and potentially fatal seizures or organ failure.

If you or a travel companion experience any changes to your eyesight or breathing after drinking, you must seek emergency medical care immediately and explicitly inform hospital staff that you suspect methanol poisoning.

Faecal bacteria are contaminating water in wells and sinkholes in Mexico’s Yucatan state, which are a vital source of drinking water, according to a report by Greenpeace, a global environmental organisation.

The report, published on Tuesday, said nearby pig farms and municipal wastewater were likely sources of the pollution in the southeastern coastal state.

“A range of chemical and microbiological indicators reveal a complex mosaic of severe, localised organic pollution,” it said.

Greenpeace called for an immediate moratorium on new industrial livestock operations and farm expansions in the peninsular state, which was once home to the ancient Maya civilisation.

With no above-ground rivers, groundwater is the Yucatan’s only freshwater source, and the area’s porous limestone bedrock lets pollutants quickly seep into the aquifer.

Laboratory results

The global environmental watchdog group commissioned an independent laboratory to test water at 17 sites near the state capital, Merida, in August.

The sites included household and farm wells, community water points and cenotes, the natural sinkholes that dot the Yucatan Peninsula, which is one of Mexico’s most popular tourist destinations.

According to the report, every sample showed some degree of contamination likely linked to faecal waste, and several sites appeared heavily polluted. Total coliform bacteria reached the test’s upper limit in 16 of 17 samples, and faecal coliforms did so in 13.

However, the tests cannot show whether the waste came from people or animals, and leaking septic tanks and municipal sewage may also contribute to contamination.

Greenpeace said, however, that separate testing using Pig2Bac, a pig-specific DNA marker method, detected pig faecal matter in samples analysed at laboratories at Johns Hopkins University in the US and Mexico’s National Autonomous University (UNAM).

Greenpeace said the results raise “critical accountability questions” about nearby pig farms.

Maya communities joined Greenpeace in demanding action from environmental authorities over the contamination.

Industrial pig farms

A UN report published in July found that there are more than 500 industrial pig farms across Yucatan state with more than 50,000 animals, many located near the lands and territories of Indigenous Peoples.

Marcos Orellana, a former UN special rapporteur who authored the report, said waste and chemicals from industrial farms “find their way very quickly” into the water communities use for bathing, cooking and drinking. He said most farms lack required permits and that regional government initiatives “remain insufficient”.

“The contamination of the waters that have sustained Mayan culture for millennia is predominantly coming from the industrial operations of the growth of animals,” Orellana said.

But Antonio Zumarraga, vice president of the Yucatan Citizen Scientific Water Observatory, defended the local pork industry, saying the sector has invested in water treatment and supports conservation programmes. He blamed local authorities for their inaction.

“It’s an issue that, as long as it doesn’t carry political weight for the government, they won’t do anything about it,” Zumarraga said.

The Yucatan state government was not available for comment, while Mexico’s national water commission, CONAGUA, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Merida’s Association of Pig Farmers also did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.