As the city welcomes another intake of undergraduates, a York firm is helping reduce local incidents of drink spiking.

Maximise gave away hundreds of its recently-launched tester strips to new students attending the York St John University Freshers Fair.

Around 3,000 students are believed to have attended the event, which took place last Wednesday.

Director of Maximise, Andy Hudson, says the demand for the company’s drink spike indicator tester strips exceeded even his own expectations.

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He said: “We’d given out all our free samples within hours of being there. Young people are critically aware of the risk of drink spiking. The problem for many of them is that they don’t have a way of knowing if they’re at risk or not. That’s why our drink tester strips were so popular - they give you an immediate indication of whether or not your drink’s been spiked”. 

Maximise’s drink tester strips are able to detect two of the most widely used drink-spiking drugs, Ketamine and GHB (Gamma Hydroxybutyrate) – also known as ‘date rape drugs’ due to their propensity for lowering people’s inhibitions and inducing a state of short-term amnesia.

Developed in conjunction with the University of Strathclyde and the Clinical Trials Laboratory Services, the tester strips are quick and easy to use. Just a few drops of the drink suspected of being spiked will produce a result in a matter of seconds, indicating the presence of GHB, Ketamine or both.

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Most date rape drugs take effect within 15-30 minutes and symptoms usually last for several hours. Users are advised to test their drinks as soon as they feel any ill effects and to inform a friend or member of staff immediately, so they’re not left in any danger.

Official statistics on drink spiking are not routinely published, but last year the National Police Chiefs' Council reported nearly 5,000 cases of needle and drink spiking incidents across England and Wales in the year to September 2022.

However, last year the Alcohol Education Trust (AET), reported its survey of 747 people showing that 94 (12.6%) had been spiked, with a prevalence of 15% among females and 7% among males.

Earlier this year, the Labour leader Kier Starmer called for drink spiking to be made a specific offence and spoke out about his fears for when his own daughter is old enough to go out.

Andy Hudson, who cofounded Maximise in 2016, admits to having had similar fears when his daughter was at university – and says it’s one of the main reasons for choosing to supply drink spike indicator testers strips.

He added: “On several occasions, she came home with tales about friends whose drinks had been spiked on nights out and it absolutely terrified me. Until then, Maximise had focused on supplying tester strips to the scent and aroma industries, but it struck me that we could use our expertise to expand our offering to include drink spike testers, and play our part in helping fight this awful trend.”

The tester strips can be bought at www.testerstrips.co.uk