There is no way you will be arrested for eating hot cross buns.

Turns out its not just alcohol that can spike a breathylyser! There is a new addition to the group of products that can make it seem as though one is drunk from the results of a breathylyser. If you haven’t seen the video of the Eastern Cape traffic officer eating hot cross buns and within a matter of seconds almost being unable to pass as a ‘sober’ driver, you have to watch this!

An officer from Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality is seen doing a test before and after biting on a bun, and after a few moments and one breathylser test later, an increase in the breath alcohol content spiked from zero to 0.21mg.

But don’t you worry Durbanites, just because the breath alcohol increases after eating hot cross buns doesn’t mean you are drunk, tipsy or anywhere near either of those intoxicated states.

Checkers, whose buns were featured in the video, confirmed in a statement that its hot cross buns were alcohol-free.

Warren Prins, Head of Traffic and Licensing, explained.

“A hot cross bun has raisins, sultanas and yeast that ferments 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,” Prins said.

He said 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.

There is no way you will be arrested for eating a hot cross bun and motorists should not be alarmed.

Sources:
Etheridge, J. (2019). WATCH: Getting drunk on hot cross buns? Authorities deny traffic cops’ shocking claims in training video. [online] News24. Available at: https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/watch-getting-drunk-on-hot-cross-buns-authorities-deny-traffic-cops-shocking-claims-in-training-video-20190417 [Accessed 18 Apr. 2019].