In 1986， a big 2)tainted-wine scandal happened in Italy. More than five weeks after a number of 3)vintners were first discovered to be 4)adulterating their low-priced 5)table wines with 6)methyl alcohol， which is more commonly used as paint 7)solvent， at least 22 Italians had died and about 90 others were hospitalized after drinking the8)contaminated product.
As the 9)death toll rose， the Italian government listed some 300 labels as suspect， prompting worldwide concern and threatening the country’s $953 million wine-export trade.
In the U.S.， where some 73 million 10)gallons of Italian wine were imported every year and sales had been booming， federal officials warned 11)wholesalers and importers not to distribute any Italian wines until samples could be tested for methyl alcohol. Then the 12)Bureau of Alcohol， Tobacco and Firearms(BATF) advised drinkers not to touch Italian wines until tests showed that they were not contaminated. The Italian embassy emphasized that the only products that had so far been discovered to be tainted were cheap varieties that sold in Italy for about $1.50 per gallon.
Italy’s commercial counselor in Washington， Gerardo Carante， said that only six of the Italian firms whose wines were suspected of being contaminated had shipped products to the U.S. Nonetheless， BATF Director Stephen Higgins announced that all Italian wine entering the country would have to carry the certificate of 13)purity that the Italian government had begun issuing for bottles cleared for export. 14)Shipments that left Italy before the Roman government had begun requiring the certificates would be prohibited from entering U.S. markets.
The BATF’s warnings prompted many wine sellers across the nation to remove Italian products from their shelves immediately. Among them was 15)Oakland-based16)Safeway Stores， which sold wine in some 1，200 supermarkets and 104 Liquor Barn stores. Said Safeway Spokeswoman Felicia del Campo： “Nobody could assure us that none of the adulterated wines had reached the U.S.” Many other retailers resisted the move， however， pointing out that they did not sell low-grade products， or 17)citing confidence in their own distribution systems. Said Louis Iacucci， president of Goldstar Wines & Spirits of Queens， N.Y.， the nation’s single largest retailer of Italian wines： “The scare was 18)premature， and it has done a lot of harm to some of the great winemakers of the world.”