For many people, drinking alcohol is part of everyday life. The number of people who have alcohol in their blood without drinking at all is much smaller – because their digestive system produces enough ethanol to show up in an alcohol test. This is what happened to a Belgian during a driving test; his breath alcohol test showed 1.8 per mille. The man escaped corresponding punishments because he has the rare self-brewer’s syndrome (ABS). With this metabolic disease, enough fermentation occurs in the stomach and intestines to produce ethanol. Some have hardly any symptoms, others suffer alcohol poisoning without even drinking a sip.
