Summer Holidays Abroad: Spiking and Methanol Poisoning Risks

Summer holidays are a time to relax, explore and celebrate. But unfamiliar bars, generous measures, hot weather and not knowing the local area can all make you more vulnerable when you are abroad. Two risks are worth understanding before you travel: spiking, and methanol poisoning from contaminated alcohol. This guide explains both, using advice from the UK government's Travel Aware campaign, so you can enjoy your trip with confidence.

Key takeaways

• Spiking can happen anywhere in the world. Keep your drink with you and do not accept drinks from strangers.
• Methanol is toxic even in small amounts and is sometimes illegally mixed into drinks in some parts of the world.
• Choose sealed, branded drinks from licensed venues, and avoid unusually cheap spirits.
• If you or a friend feel unwell, seek urgent medical help and do not try to "sleep it off".

Spiking abroad

The government's Travel Aware campaign describes spiking as someone sneaking something into your drink, such as drugs or harmful substances, without you knowing. It can be done to make you black out or lose control, sometimes with the intention of committing a crime such as theft or sexual assault.

Travel Aware warns that alcohol can hit harder abroad because measures are sometimes larger, and that dehydration from the heat can make you feel worse. Both can make it harder to tell when something is wrong.

Warning signs

According to Travel Aware, signs of spiking can include feeling more drunk than you should, drowsiness or confusion, and in some cases hallucinations, paranoia and memory blackouts. Its advice is simple: trust your gut. If something feels wrong, it probably is.

Methanol poisoning: a hidden risk

Methanol is an industrial alcohol found in products such as antifreeze, fuel and paint thinners. Travel Aware explains that in some parts of the world, methanol products are sometimes illegally mixed with "real" alcohol, such as spirit-based drinks and cocktails. Medical experts believe that as little as 30ml, roughly a shot, can be fatal for an adult, and that 10ml can cause blindness.

Methanol poisoning can be hard to spot at first because early symptoms look like normal drunkenness or a bad hangover. Travel Aware lists early signs as vomiting, poor judgement, loss of balance and drowsiness. Between 12 and 48 hours after drinking, symptoms can include abdominal pain, vertigo, breathlessness, blurred vision or blindness, convulsions and coma. Problems with vision, such as blurriness, trouble looking at bright lights, or "snowfield" or tunnel vision, are a particular red flag.

Time matters. Travel Aware says treatment is most effective within 10 to 30 hours of drinking methanol, so do not wait to see if it gets better.

How to reduce the risks

• Keep your drink with you and do not leave it unattended. If it smells or tastes odd, do not drink it.
• Do not accept drinks from strangers, however friendly the offer.
• Choose sealed, branded drinks. Travel Aware recommends branded beers, ciders, wines and premixed cocktails in sealed bottles and cans.
• Be careful with spirit-based drinks such as shots, cocktails, buckets and jugs, and avoid free shots or unusually cheap drinks claiming to be brand-name alcohol.
• Stick to licensed places: licensed shops, bars, clubs, restaurants and hotels. Avoid homemade, bootleg or street-side alcohol.
• Pace yourself and drink water, especially in the heat.
• Check FCDO travel advice for your destination before you go, and sign up for email alerts.

Plan your nights out

Travel Aware also recommends planning your trip home before you go out:

• Arrange transport before you head out.
• Save the address of where you are staying, ideally in the local language.
• Stay in contact with your friends throughout the night.
• If you are staying in the same accommodation, go home together.
• Save the local emergency number. You can find it in the health section of each country's FCDO travel advice.

What to do if you suspect spiking or methanol poisoning

1. Get to safety. Stay with people you trust.
2. Seek urgent medical help. Call the local emergency number or go to the nearest hospital. Do not go to bed and try to sleep it off.
3. Tell medical staff what you drank and that you think you may have been spiked or poisoned.
4. Report it to the local police.
5. Get support. If you have been sexually assaulted abroad, the UK government has guidance for victims of rape and sexual assault abroad, and the FCDO can be contacted 24 hours a day on +44 (0)20 7008 5000.

Once you are back in the UK, you can call NHS 111 if you have health concerns, or 999 in an emergency.

Pack SpikeStixx in your holiday bag

SpikeStixx are discreet, pocket-sized drink spike tests that are easy to take on holiday. Dab a clean finger in your drink, dab it onto the yellow tip of the stick and wait 5 seconds. If the yellow turns dark orange, your drink may have been spiked: do not drink it, and get help. SpikeStixx are a drink spike test, so when it comes to methanol, always follow the advice above on choosing sealed, branded drinks from licensed venues.

Have a wonderful, safe summer.