A B.C. man who says he was sickened after drinking Stella Artois beer in January 2006 has hired a lawyer to find out why Labatt Breweries of Canada waited over a year before issuing a warning to the public about suspected tampering.

Consumer Rick Korba, of Kamloops, B.C., says he has many questions about how high levels of ethanol — a concentrated alcohol solution — ended up in his bottle.

Korba said he immediately became ill after drinking a bottle of Stella Artois beer and vomited repeatedly.

What is ethanol?
Ethanol is produced when organic material, including wheat, barley and hops, ferments. The fermentation process — which is aided by the addition of yeast — turns sugars in the organic material into alcohol.

"It went down my throat and by the time I sort of reacted, and closed up, I had ingested some of this fluid. I couldn't speak. I was gasping for air," Korba said.

Korba said he sent Labatt's a sample of the beer and waited to hear back from them. He said he felt slighted by their response.

"I was quite perturbed by the fact that I always seemed to be initiating the dialogue by calling them, rather than them calling me," Korba said.

In July 2007, the company issued a warning to the public, saying six people had been sickened by high concentrations of ethanol contained in certain bottles. 

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued an advisory on July 12 warning that tampering was suspected in six 330-millilitre bottles of Stella Artois beer with best-before dates of November and December 2005, and production codes of L32343T and L35243G.

'Why did they wait until the sixth time? Why not the fifth? Why not the fourth? Why not the first? And that's, that's our question and we're going to look for answers.'—Darcy Merkur, lawyer

The CFIA said the federal agency first learned of the problem on June 25, 2007, when a person in Ontario was served a tainted bottle.

Darcy Merkur, Korba's lawyer, said his client wants to know why the company didn't act faster.

"Why did they wait until the sixth time? Why not the fifth? Why not the fourth? Why not the first? And that's, that's our question and we're going to look for answers," said Korba's lawyer, Darcy Merkur.

Neil Sweeney, a Labatt Breweries of Canada vice-president, said the company initially believed they were dealing with random events. But, Sweeney noted, as soon as Labatt had results, Korba was told what was in the bottle.

"My understanding is that he was told it was a high concentration of alcohol, which is exactly what ethanol is," he said.

Merkur said he is seeking compensation and an apology from the company.