Wine scandal: counting the cost

Press, 9 August 1985, Page 18

Wine scandal: counting the cost

The Austrian "anti-freeze" wine scandal has not only wrecked a $25 million export market, on which 40.403 grape farming families and wine exporters rely to break even, but now’ also threatens the jobs of at least a quarter of a million other Austrians who live, directly or indirectly, from grape farming and the wine trade. Sue Masterman reports from Vienna. A further unknown factor, which has the Austrians extremely worried, is the long-term effect on the tourist industry. Austria's main source of foreign income. The east of the country. the traditional wine producing -and drinking area, is already experiencing a fall in trade. ’

The fact that unscrupulous wine wholesalers had been adding diethelenegjycoL the potentially poisonous ingredient also used in a&p-freeze. to their wine had been officially known in .Austria since

’'’Neither the Ministry of Health nor the Ministry of Agriculture acted with alacrity to protect the consumer or to bring those concerned to justice. ” This now threatens to provoke a first-class political scandal The Agriculture Minister. Gunther Haiden. has made a short and pithy reply. “The opposition had better keep its mouth shut." he says. “They're’up to their necks in it."

Indeed, the wine-producing communities are mainly governed by conservative-dominated councils, who are now being accused of bribery, corruption, and cover-up methods.

Among the 10 people arrested so far and charged with conspiring to "forge" wine by adding an illicit chemical substance, are two food Those inside the wineproducing business say that, wttn-

out the aid of highly qualified chemists, it would not have been possible to perpetrate this fraud. me reason ’the wine industry turned to dietheleneglycol is because. up to two years ago. there was no routine chemical test to

detect it. In 19w. an Austrian wine scandal involved manufacturers who had added too much sugar to their dry wine. Sugar may be added to Austrian wine but only in limited and strictly specified quan-

The incustry then searched for crooked chemists who would 2nd them an undetectable sweetener. The answer thev came up with was

dietheleneglycol Researchers reckon that 14 arams of the chemical per litre is potentially poisonous. Above 40 grams a litre is certainly lethal A long-term consumption of even small amounts can cause _perman-_, ent Hamage, especially to the kid- ■

Austrians had hoped that the damage would be limited to the socalled Pradicat wines, the supposedly high quality dessert type of which little is crunk in Austria

Now. however, the substance has been traced in very cheap ordinary dry white wine, sold in cartons in supermarkets. The food inspectors have said that they suspect that the original wine was mixed 54-54 1 with water, and the sweetner used to

bring back the original taste. Tens of thousands of gallons of wine have been confiscated, and enough has been secretly poured

down the drain to escape detection. The polluted wine, the authorities now say. will probably be poured on to the fields where the dietheleneglycol will disintegrate, and a useful fertiliser will be left. Copyright—London Observer Service.