A British politician had a scare recently when armed Colombian soldiers mistakenly took his powdered coffee-mate to be raw cocaine.

Michael Fabricant, 58, who represents the Staffordshire constituency of Lichfield and Burntwood, was on a trekking vacation in South America when he and his friend ran into a group of soldiers in the jungle. The gun-wielding militants searched their belongings and found an unlabeled jar of powdered coffee creamer.

Fabricant told reporters he tried to explain what it was, but spoke very little Spanish. So the soldiers, armed with M16 rifles forced Fabricant to eat several spoonfuls of the white substance. Ingesting large quantities of raw cocaine is poisonous and can cause death.

While Fabricant told the press he felt ill from so much of the powder, the fact that he didn't show any signs of sickness convinced the group of militants that the substance was not cocaine, and they allowed Fabricant and his friend to continue their hike.

Fabricant said he brought the powdered creamer because he wasn't sure what the quality of milk would be in Colombia.