Finding the fake booze

By Kristy Turner2018-10-12T14:54:00

Source: Kirill Kudryavtsev / AFP / Getty Images

Ever wondered what Raman spectrometry is? Here’s how it can find out what’s in a bottle without opening it.

Drink fraud is a serious business. In a recent joint operation lasting four months, Interpol and Europol seized 26.4 million litres of counterfeit alcohol. Manchester-based scientists recently discovered a solution to this using Raman spectrometry. Kristy Turner gives the full story, with the basics of how Raman spectroscopy works and its inventor.

Thanks for using Education in Chemistry. You can view one Education in Chemistry article per month as a visitor.

A photograph of a teacher standing in a white lab coat, speaking with a class of children in a laboratory, is superimposed on a colourful background. Text reads "Teach Chemistry means support for classroom and staff room".

Register for Teach Chemistry for free, unlimited access

Registration is open to all teachers and technicians at secondary schools, colleges and teacher training institutions in the UK and Ireland.

Get all this, plus much more:

unlimited access to resources, core practical videos and Education in Chemistry articles
teacher well-being toolkit, personal development resources and online assessments
applications for funding to support your lessons

Set up your Teach Chemistry account

Already a Teach Chemistry member? Sign in now.

Not eligible for Teach Chemistry? Sign up for a personal account instead, or you can also access all our resources with Royal Society of Chemistry membership.