Checkers' cheeky six-pack response to 'boozy' hot cross buns debate

18 April 2019 - 10:43 By Nomahlubi Jordaan
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Checkers responded to the boozy buns video clip by tweeting that its six pack of buns contain 'zero alcohol'.
Checkers responded to the boozy buns video clip by tweeting that its six pack of buns contain 'zero alcohol'. 
Image: 123RF/whiteboxmedia

Checkers was quick to leap into the "boozy" hot cross bun breathalyser conversation on social media by declaring - in a tweet - that its six-pack of buns contained "zero alcohol". 

The retailer was responding to a widely shared video clip demonstrating how eating hot cross buns could affect - if tested immediately after chewing - the reading on a breathalyser screening device.

"It may have fooled a breathalyzer, but you won’t get a #HotCrossBuzz from our buns," the retailer tweeted.

In the video recorded to demonstrate the difference between "lung" and "mouth" alcohol readings, a traffic officer blows into a screening device and is declared sober.

After eating a hot cross bun, he is immediately tested again and found to have a (false) positive reading of 0.21mg. The legal alcohol breath limit for driving in SA is less than 0.24mg per 1,000ml of breath.

The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) has assured motorists they would not be unfairly arrested.

"The purpose of alcohol testing devices is to determine the driver's blood alcohol concentration in the body specimen. The video shows mouth alcohol concentration, which is not sufficient evidence to charge a motorist for drunken driving," said the RTMC.

This means that while the breathalyser may have shown that the officer had some alcoholic substance in his mouth, a blood test may show otherwise. Taking the reading 15 minutes after consuming the bun would have produced a zero alcohol reading again.

There were mixed reactions to the Checkers' tweet, with some users saying they would not be eating hot cross buns this Easter as they do not want to be arrested.

"I for one will not be consuming any buns. Whether it's hot cross or cold cross. Andizi. I can’t be arrested for flour," said @Shepherd Silayi.

"Will that explanation keep us out of jail. You do know that if we get arrested tomorrow, we will only be released on Tuesday," said @TboozeSA.

"We want proof like the one we saw earlier in the video," @Gudsile said.

A video has been doing the rounds on social media showing that eating a hot cross bun could affect the reading on a breathalyzer. Western Cape MMC for safety JP Smith said the incorrect reading on the alcohol tester would only apply immediately after eating the food. Subscribe to TimesLIVE here: https://www.youtube.com/user/TimesLive


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