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News Archive 2007

20/06/2007

British vodka saved from attempt to rename it "white spirit"

Conservatives today headed off an attempt by the vodka producers of Eastern Europe to force British vodka off the shelves.

The vote in the European Parliament saw Baltic, Polish and Scandinavian MEPs, whose vodka is made from grain and potatoes, try to ban the use of the name 'vodka' for drink made from any other ingredient.

If successful, the vote could have forced UK distillers, whose vodka is made mainly from sugar cane molasses, to rename it "white spirit" or "pure alcohol." Almost a third (30 per cent) of vodka produced in Britain is made from either sugar beet or sugar cane molasses.

Jonathan Evans, Conservative MEP for Wales, said:“Although Britain is the second biggest producer of vodka in Europe the vote attempted to restrict the term 'vodka' to drink made from potatoes and grain only.

"People are free today to drink the vodka they want. The British vodka drinker is saved from protectionism.”

To prove the point no MEP out of those who took the Tory "Vodka Challenge" outside the voting chamber in Strasbourg could tell the difference between British vodka made from molasses and Polish vodka made from grain.

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