The forensic ability of TD-NMR in detecting counterfeit spirits by analyzing bottle caps

Abstract

The potential for substantial economic gain, counterfeiting of branded spirits is becoming more and more prevalent and become a worldwide chronic problem, since it is not trivial to organoleptically detect counterfeit spirits by consumers. In addition to endangering consumers’ health, by the presence of dangerous chemicals, counterfeit spirits market is imposing significant financial liability for the genuine suppliers as well as constitute in substantial loss of revenue for governments. The counterfeiting dynamics, the hardship of detecting counterfeit spirits, and the difficulty in using the available analytical methods may result in delays on the reports, inconclusive results, and lack of proof of the materiality of the crime. Counterfeiting process generally take places by refilling bottles of brand spirits with cheaper ones or even produced by counterfeiters and then resealing with the same authentic bottle caps. Fortunately, this practice can leave traces of evidence in bottle caps, which could be used to identify counterfeit spirits. This work shows that Infrared Spectroscopy and Time-Domain Nuclear Magnetic Resonance can be used to identify counterfeit spirits based on the analysis of its bottle caps, being valuable tools in the battle against counterfeit product market.