If you’re facing a DUI or an immediate roadside prohibition (IRP), you’re probably feeling stressed and confused. Especially if you believe you are innocent. You might be led to believe that the breathalyzer test is the ultimate, infallible piece of evidence.
But what if I told you that something as innocent as a piece of fruit could potentially skew the results of a roadside breathalyzer and lead to a false positive? It sounds crazy, but it’s true, and it’s an important piece of information for anyone worried about a DUI where they believe they are innocent.
Certain foods, particularly fruit, can interfere with the accuracy of roadside breathalyzer tests.
Many fruits, when they become very ripe, naturally undergo a process called fermentation. This happens because the sugars in the fruit are broken down by yeast and other microorganisms. This breakdown produces ethanol, the same type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages. So, even if you haven’t touched a drop of alcohol, your breath might contain trace amounts of ethanol. The riper the fruit, the more of this fermentation will have occurred, and the more ethanol there may be.
What kind of fruit are we talking about? Well, it’s not just that overripe banana you might have had for breakfast. Apples, grapes and oranges are also known to produce ethanol during their ripening process. And it’s not just the fruit itself; fruit juices can contain significant levels of ethanol as they are often made from very ripe fruit.
Some studies have shown that grape juice can have higher ethanol content than orange or apple juice. Surprisingly, even some packed bakery products like burger rolls or sweet milk rolls, can contain substantial amounts of ethanol – more than 1.2 grams of alcohol per 100 grams of bread.
And of course, many other foods such as vinegar and yogurt are produced by fermentation and will contain trace amounts of alcohol.
Roadside breathalyzer devices are designed to measure the amount of alcohol present in your breath. Unfortunately, they are not sophisticated enough to distinguish between alcohol from a beer and alcohol from a banana. It all reacts the same way on a fuel cell because the molecules are the same.
If you have recently consumed a large amount of very ripe fruit or fruit juice, or even some types of bakery products, you may have enough ethanol present to register on the breathalyzer. This is especially true if you’ve eaten something like a very ripe banana, which has been shown to have higher ethanol levels. One study found that some brands of apple juice had a more than 10-fold difference in their ethanol content. Another study found that some samples of grape juice contained up to 0.86 g/L of ethanol. It has been reported that the ethanol concentrations in fresh opened grape juices ranged between 0.3 and 1.8 g/L.
So while the amount of alcohol in these foods is not normally enough to make you intoxicated, it could still be enough to cause a false positive reading on a breathalyzer.
In British Columbia, a breathalyzer test is the only evidence the police rely on to issue you the 90-day immediate roadside prohibition. If you have not consumed any alcohol or not enough to cause you to fail the test, it is worth looking in to how the naturally occurring ethanol in food could have lead to a false positive reading.
If you find yourself in a situation involving a DUI or an immediate roadside prohibition after eating or drinking these kinds of foods, understanding the science behind how seemingly harmless foods can affect a breathalyzer test may afford you a defence.
Knowledge is power when it comes to protecting your rights and avoiding a wrongful conviction. While it might seem unlikely, remember that sometimes, a piece of fruit could be the difference between guilt and innocence.
