Eleven dead after drinking coconut wine

[Mike J]

A sad holiday indeed for these families. 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/coconut-wine-philippines-drink-dead-hospital-fda-a9258046.html

At least 11 people have died and hundreds have been hospitalised in the Philippines after drinking coconut wine, authorities have said.

Lambanog – a type of alcohol made from coconut sap – has been linked to “mass hospitalisation and deaths” after the drink reportedly gave people methanol poisoning, which can cause blindness, permanent brain damage and death, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 

The agency warned the public against drinking lambanog that has not been FDA regulated, and said the product believed to have caused the illness is being investigated. 

The victims all bought the lambanog from the same local retailer, according to local media.

They reportedly showed symptoms of stomach pains, vomiting and dizziness after ingesting the drink. 

[jimeve]

1 hour ago, Mike J said:

A sad holiday indeed for these families. 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/coconut-wine-philippines-drink-dead-hospital-fda-a9258046.html

At least 11 people have died and hundreds have been hospitalised in the Philippines after drinking coconut wine, authorities have said.

Lambanog – a type of alcohol made from coconut sap – has been linked to “mass hospitalisation and deaths” after the drink reportedly gave people methanol poisoning, which can cause blindness, permanent brain damage and death, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 

The agency warned the public against drinking lambanog that has not been FDA regulated, and said the product believed to have caused the illness is being investigated. 

The victims all bought the lambanog from the same local retailer, according to local media.

They reportedly showed symptoms of stomach pains, vomiting and dizziness after ingesting the drink. 

The lambanog contained Methanol which can give blindness and even death. R.I.P. To the 11 people who past away.

[Tommy T.]

1 hour ago, jimeve said:

The lambanog contained Methanol which can give blindness and even death. R.I.P. To the 11 people who past away.

So somebody doctored it with the methanol? Lambanog, itself, is simply fermented coconut sap and, though I am not so partial to its taste, it can have quite a kick if fermented for several days. Enough kick, for this old fart, that I don't need any extra boost.

How sad for those who drank this and got sick...

Edited December 24, 2019 by Tommy T.

[JDDavao II]

Pretty sure Lambanog is distilled tuba. It isn't wine any longer. Without care and testing equipment, they're making moonshine. It's the distillation process that creates methanol.

Edit: there's also a penchant to make extra profit by "cutting" a distilled product with methanol. Even an "approved" distiller can do that to make more money when sales increase at Christmas.

There was the same media misinformation after Crow's gin was linked to methanol poisoning. They kept calling it 'brewed" because Crow's is also a beer maker. Many people were then afraid to drink locally made craft beer. You can brew beer all day and not create enough methanol to hurt someone. 

 

Edited December 24, 2019 by JDDavao

[jimeve]

3 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

 Lambanog, itself, is simply fermented coconut sap

It's distilled coconut sap and about 80% proof, why would anybody put Methanol in?

Edit, Answer my own question... Probably never distilled the coconut sap but added Methanol short supply in demand xmas drinks .

 

Edited December 24, 2019 by jimeve

[Tommy T.]

Yeah, Jim... that's the interesting question. As JD suggests, it may be just to stretch it a bit and increase profits? ...And deaths...

But perhaps JD is correct and it was just a deadly error on the part of the distiller? I thought one produced methanol by distilling wood and some other things and that was what produced "wood alcohol" or methanol?

I'll stick to my Tanduay or the "pure" lambanog that comes straight from the plants and into the bottle without an intermediary. I am not so fond of the taste, but the kick is substantial! At least enough for me...

Edited December 24, 2019 by Tommy T.

[JDDavao II]

Let me correct myself: the gin I was mis-remembering was NOT produced by Crows but by Juan Brew, another craft brewery. It was called Cosmic Carabao Gin. After the two deaths in June, Juan Brew claimed to be performing their own in-house investigation. I've not seen the reports of that investigation if it did, indeed, take place.

As far as I know, methanol is produced in tiny amounts during fermentation (beer and wine making) but higher amounts during distillation. I haven't found out what "higher" means.

From what I've read, distillation has fermentation as a first step ("mash"). A whole lot of stuff can be fermented. Fruit, veggies, milk, wood, underwear (maybe). Methanol is a byproduct of fermentation but distillation concentrates it just like it concentrates the safer ethanol that gets you hammered.

I homebrew beer, I don't distill at all but it's my understanding that it would take more methanol than is present in a single distillation run to kill people. Others say that ain't so. It's hard to find a definitive answer about it because of so much misreporting surrounding methanol deaths.

Methanol gets you drunk before it kills you, though. Cutting your expensive-to-make, highly taxed ethanol with a less expensive, untaxed, odorless industrial solvent that acts like ethanol will make you more money. If you don't mind killing people.

What's surprising (or not, given where we are), is that there are a few dozen deaths every year here in the Philippines from methanol poisoning but I've not been able to find news reports of their cause. 

Last December, 20 people died in Quezon City and Laguna from methanol poisoning. The PFDA found high levels of the chemical in the lambanog they all drank. There was no reporting on who made or sold the stuff or whether it was accidental bad distilling or intentional adulterating.

[Arizona Kid]

A good lesson might be learned here by buying from trusted sources? But maybe people with not so much money in their pockets will buy the cheaper stuff. I feel bad for them. Wanting to have a good time and then paying the ultimate price.

[bastonjock]

This has been on the news in the UK, 

The lambanog must have been distilled to contain high levels of methanol , this happens when the fluid has been exposed to the wrong temperature 

It's a narrow window between the two different types of alcohol and they are produced by boiling the mash and draining it off , the temperature of the distillation process is critical , get it wrong and you get high levels of methanol in your booze

[jimeve]

Now I know where the saying comes from.......Blind drunk.