“Self-fermentation”: Drunk behind the wheel, a Belgian relaxed because of a very rare syndrome

A 40-year-old Belgian who was prosecuted before the Bruges police court for repeated drunken driving was acquitted, having been able to prove that he suffered from a very rare alcoholic “self-fermentation” syndrome.

Known as “auto-fermentation” or “auto-brewery”, this syndrome causes the digestive system to produce endogenous ethanol during the ingestion of high-carbohydrate foods, such as bread, potatoes or beans.

According to the lawyer, scientists believe that it is underdiagnosed worldwide since only around twenty people are officially affected.

Her client, whose identity was not specified, was able to prove that he was a carrier after involving three doctors in total in this legal procedure, she stressed.

The court recognized “a case of force majeure”. His lawyer, Anse Ghesquiere, confirmed to AFP the information given by the Belgian media.

Controlled with 0.91 mg/l of exhaled air, then 0.71 mg/l

“We are happy with this judgment but it is not yet final,” commented Me Ghesquiere, specifying that the prosecution had thirty days to appeal.

While driving his car, the man was tested in April 2022 with a level of 0.91 mg per liter of exhaled air, then again a month later with 0.71 mg/l, where the ceiling legal in Belgium is 0.22 mg/l.

The motorist, already sentenced in 2019 to a fine and suspension of his driving license for the same reasons, had protested his innocence, assuring that he had not drunk and apparently unaware of the illness from which he was suffering.

From now on, he follows a low-carbohydrate diet capable of blocking the onset of the syndrome.

At the time of the hearing at the end of March, the prosecution had also demanded that he avoid “any voluntary alcohol consumption”, recalled the Flemish public television channel VRT.