Beware of having one bun ‘over the limit’ this Easter
We have heard of dunking doughnuts, but drunken buns?
A major retailer said it had been inundated with requests for its secret hot cross bun recipe after a video purportedly showing people could get “drunk” from consuming the traditional Easter treat went viral on Wednesday.
Checkers said consumers had also placed bulk orders and asked that the hot cross bun range be extended to its liquor stores and even sold all year round.
The hot cross bun hysteria began when a video started circulating on social media showing a traffic officer recording an alcohol reading in a breathalyser test after biting into one of the retailer’s buns.
In the almost two-minutelong clip, the officer can be seen blowing into a breathalyser which first records a zero reading, but after the official takes about three bites from the hot cross bun, the device shows a reading of 0.21.
A man can be heard in the clip saying he bought the bun from a Checkers outlet in Port Elizabeth.
In a statement, the retailer said the hot cross buns on its shelves were “alcohol-free and only made with stone- ground flour and the finest quality natural ingredients”.
“The false positive reading in the video is most probably due to the yeast and fruit which may cause inaccurate breathalyser readings, as was first reported in Australia in January 2019,” it said.
Nelson Mandela Bay traffic chief Warren Prins was also quick to react – assuring motorists that eating the buns would not land them in jail.
Prins said the buns normally contained raisins, sultanas and yeast that fermented when consumed.
“When a breathalyser test is done immediately after eating a bun, it will register a high alcohol level due to the effects of all these elements on the breath content,” he said.
“However, when a test is taken a minute later, it will again register a reading of 0.00.”
Prins said the video on social media only showed the first part of a test which was “to illustrate the variables [traffic] officers must be aware of when testing citizens with a breathalyser apparatus”.
“The video is the first draft of a training video. It is intended to illustrate the difference between a mouth sample and a lung sample,” he said.
“The reading in the video, similar to a video taken in Australia previously, indicates a mouth sample and not a lung sample.
“The screening device used in the video detected an alcohol reading from the mouth as it is designed to pick up any small trace amounts of alcohol.
“For instance, if you slosh alcohol in your mouth, it will register on the screening device, even if you did not ingest any of the alcohol.
“Motorists should therefore not be alarmed as the tests conducted by law enforcement officials must be done in line with law enforcement official prosecutorial guidelines, which necessitate a blood sample.
“Please enjoy your hot cross buns and pickled fish, but be mindful that we will be out in full force to deal with anyone transgressing our traffic laws this Easter weekend,” Prins warned.