Nicotine based drink to go on sale

16:02 27 October 2008

A Dutch drinks company believe they have the perfect solution to help nicotine addicts now that smoking has been banned in the UK.

The product, named Liquid Smoking, contains 15% nicotine in an attempt to entice those who can no longer light up inside.

The drink, which could be on sale in the UK by Christmas, is already a big hit in the Netherlands. But it has left some critics less than impressed.

Drink laced with nicotine

Liquid Smoking is a fruit-flavoured herbal drink that claims to deliver the same fix as cigarettes but without the negative side effects or addictiveness.

Each 275ml can contains 21 calories and is advertised as providing "a slight energising effect, followed by a euphoric sense of calm" and will be available to any age group on its release.

Retailing at roughly 1.50 in shops or 2.00 in pubs, the drink is made from a potent mix of roots from South African plants, which has been used since the 14th century by bushmen.

Sparks of outrage

Binge fears Stella has proposed a stronger lager.

Anti-smoking groups are far from impressed by the product, or its packaging.

Amanda Sanford, from Action on Smoking and Health, said: "We are concerned that we have started to see a number of these novel products on the market which are supposed to be alternatives to smoking.

"Although we welcome anything which is a genuine alternative, many of these are totally unregulated and we only have the manufacturer's word about what they contain.

"We would be concerned about any health claims that are unsubstantiated, and at this stage we wouldn't encourage people to buy them."