Researchers from the University of St Andrews and the University of Adelaide have come up with an innovation – a portable laser detector that can effectively detect counterfeit and dangerous alcohol without opening the packaging.
The system is based on Raman spectroscopy, which uses a tunable wavelength laser beam to read the unique chemical fingerprint of a liquid through glass. By fine-tuning the optics, you can completely filter out interferences in the container and detect toxic components, including methanol, even at very low concentrations. The new technology promises to be cheaper and faster than standard laboratory testing.
In the future, this technology can not only be widely used in customs and corporate alcohol product quality control, but can also be used to check counterfeiting of perfumes, oils and other commodities.