On Wednesday afternoon, hot cross buns were trending on social media. 

In the viral video, an officer is seen blowing into a breathalyser with a 0.00 recording before the cameraman hands him a hot cross bun saying, “I bought these from Checkers... traditional hot cross buns”. 

The officer being filmed takes two bites and is handed the breathalyser again, only this time the device shows a reading of 0.21.

Checkers said that the officer had a false positive reading.

"The false-positive reading in the video is most probably due to the yeast and fruit which may cause inaccurate breathalyser readings as was first reported in Australia in January 2019," Checkers said.

It said that consumers have been inundating the retailer with requests for its hot cross bun recipe and clarity on the breathalyser reading. 

Consumers confirmed that the hot cross buns were alcohol-free and only made with stone ground flour and the finest quality natural ingredients.
 
"The decadent Checkers range sold in stores were traditional hot cross buns, hot cross bun rings, gluten-free hot cross buns and chocolate hot cross buns," said the retailer.

However, Warren Prins, Head of Traffic and Licensing of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, assured South Africans that they will not face arrest when driving after eating hot cross buns.

Prins said the screening device used in the video detected an alcohol reading as it was designed to pick up any small trace amounts of alcohol.

Motorists should not be alarmed as the tests conducted by law enforcement officials must be done in line with law enforcement official prosecutorial guidelines which necessitates a blood sample, he said.

"Please enjoy your hot cross buns and pickled fish but be mindful that we will be out in full force to deal with anyone transgressing our traffic laws this Easter weekend," said Prins.

African News Agency (ANA)