The Shanghai Consumers' Association, a non-governmental body, yesterday warned residents to pay attention to the quality of beer bottles, while suggesting the correct method of opening the bottles to avoid an untoward blast.

"Even before the peak bear consumption season began, we received two complaints about poor-quality bottles. These kind of gripes usually number around 10 for the whole year, with most concentrated in the scorching summer," said Lao Jianhong, a spokeswoman for the association. "Beer-bottle blast may seriously injure people, and even cause death."

In fact, a mandatory regulation, issued by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine in April 1999, stipulates that breweries must use a special kind of B-marked bottle, which can endure high pressure, and suggests the maxi-mum usage time be limited to two years, to reduce the chances of blast accidents.

But a tragedy is never too far away.

On June 14, a 4-year-old girl named Liu Ning was almost killed by a bursting bottle. Her mother, a Shandong Province native, said after buying the beer she put the bottle on the ground, where the girl stood. A few seconds later, the bottle exploded, cutting the girl's trachea.

Lao said the regulation has failed because some brewers use non-B-marked bottles or keep recycling B-marked bottles, to lower costs.

Last Tuesday, the Putuo branch of the Shanghai Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision seized nearly 1,000 Aopubrand beer bottles without the B-mark from a store-house on Guangfu Road. W.

What enraged the inspectors was that the substandard bottles were mixed with B-marked bottles, and workers at the Shanghai Swan Beer Co. Ltd. did not even know that non-B-marked bottles were banned.

The association has therefore advised consumers to make sure there is a letter B etched within 20 millimeters from the base of a beer bottle. It added that using ones teeth or chopsticks to open beer bottles is not safe.

An anonymous industry source said the state authority may revise the regulation. The new version, likely next year, may fix a time limit for beer bottles and solve other practical problems.

(China Daily July 02, 2002)