Tainted alcohol: Which destinations are included in the UK’s expanded methanol poisoning advisory?

The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has significantly expanded its methanol poisoning warning, adding 11 more countries to its advisory following what it calls “a global increase in the number of reported cases”.

An advisory put out in October included popular tourist destinations such as Japan and Mexico. The latest guidance adds other tourism favourites to that advisory, including India, Malaysia and Morocco, as well as Bangladesh, Iran, Jordan, Libya, Malawi, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Rwanda.

The update is part of the FCDO’s “Know the Signs of Methanol Poisoning” awareness campaign, created to highlight the dangers of bootlegged or adulterated drinks.

Hamish Falconer, the UK’s minister for consular and crisis, said methanol poisoning “can kill” and is difficult to detect in time to save victims.

“Early symptoms mirror ordinary alcohol poisoning,” said Falconer. “By the time travellers realise the danger, it can be too late.”

What destinations are now included in the warning?

The expanded list now covers 19 countries added in the past two months, on top of existing advisories for destinations such as Thailand, Laos and Vietnam - where unregulated local spirits and counterfeit alcohol have led to repeated outbreaks.

The FCDO has not released details of specific incidents linked to the newly added countries, but the update follows collaboration with parliamentarians, health and travel experts, and families of victims. It also reflects a growing concern over counterfeit or unregulated alcohol in tourist destinations.

Recent tragedies have underscored the risk of buying cheap drinks in bars, clubs and tourist resorts.

Earlier this year, a British woman and a South African man died in the Vietnamese city of Hoi An after allegedly consuming homemade limoncello.

In late 2024, six travellers, including a Briton and two Danish citizens, died in adventure travel hub Vang Vieng, Laos, after drinking methanol-laced spirits.

In Indonesia, more than 334 suspected cases of methanol poisoning have been reported since 2019, according to a global MSF database tracking methanol poisoning.

Most are linked to a bootleg liquor called arak. The unregulated, often home-brewed spirit is commonly distilled from palm flower sap or rice and sold in small “bottle-shops” around Bali, Lombok and the Gili Islands, where tourists are among the victims each year, MSF reports.

What is methanol and why was the travel advisory updated?

Methanol is a type of industrial alcohol typically found in antifreeze, paints and cleaning supplies.

While it looks and tastes like ethanol – the kind of alcohol in drinks – it is highly toxic to humans. Even drinking small amounts of it can have devastating consequences.

Just 30 millimetres, the size of a standard shot, can lead to death within 12 to 48 hours.

The symptoms of methanol poisoning can resemble a hangover or usual alcohol intoxication in the early stages – nausea, vomiting, dizziness and confusion – but they can worsen within hours, as vision problems, seizures or respiratory failure develop.

In some countries, methanol is reportedly being illegally mixed into spirits or added to cocktails to reduce costs. And because it’s odourless and tasteless, travellers have no reliable way of knowing their drink has been contaminated before consuming it.

The FCDO is urging travellers to buy only sealed drinks from licensed establishments and to avoid homemade or unlabelled spirits, pre-mixed cocktails and drinks served in buckets or jugs, like those sold in popular Southeast Asian destinations.

What are the warning signs?

The new guidance links to updated resources on the government’s Travel Aware website, which now outline how to recognise methanol poisoning and what to do if symptoms appear.

The FCDO says early effects such as vomiting, drowsiness, loss of balance and poor judgement can easily be mistaken for normal alcohol intoxication. However, any visual disturbance - including blurry vision, difficulty looking at bright lights, tunnel vision or “snowfield” vision, when you see white, snowy static, like an old TV without a signal - should be treated as a medical emergency requiring urgent attention.

These symptoms can appear 12 to 48 hours after exposure.

Where is methanol poisoning most common?

According to the MSF database, Indonesia tops the list of countries with the most suspected cases of methanol poisoning since 2019. The others in the top 10 on the database are India (140), Russia (121), Bangladesh (53), Pakistan (42), China (30), Cambodia (28), Iran (28), Vietnam (28) and Kenya (24).

Vietnam, the largest alcohol consumer in Southeast Asia, produces an estimated 85 per cent of its alcohol at home, according to MSF. Poor regulation and the growth of counterfeit spirits have made methanol poisoning outbreaks increasingly common.

The MSF database also tabulates how many people have been affected by methanol poisoning. By that measure, Iran – one of the newest additions to the FCDO’s travel guidance – tops the list with about 9,600, while Ecuador is 10th with 938.

While thousands of people die from methanol poisoning each year, and Asia remains the hardest-hit region, the inclusion of Japan comes as a surprise.

The country has just one suspected case of methanol poisoning on the MSF database – an act of domestic violence rather than a contaminated drink incident.

Euronews Travel has contacted the FCDO for more information about Japan’s inclusion on the list.