Jenny Chan 陳詠欣
Dec 2, 2011

Coca Cola responds to death from poisonous Minute Maid drink

CHANGCHUN - Coca-Cola claims the case of pesticide found in its Minute Maid 'Pulpy Milky' beverage was not a product quality issue, but the company has temporarily removed the product from shelves in Jilin province.

Minute Maid's Pulpy Milky was launched in Nov 2009
Minute Maid's Pulpy Milky was launched in Nov 2009

Following the death of a 10-year-old boy poisoned by a strawberry-flavoured beverage made by Minute Maid, a subsidiary of Coca-Cola, the company has responded with a prepared statement. "This case does not involve a product quality issue, and government authorities are carrying out detailed investigations at this time".

After the incident which happened in Changchun city, Coca-Cola said it carried out "comprehensive internal reviews" of production and logistics processes, and conducted third-party tests on the same batches that included the bottle consumed by the boy and "found everything to be safe", according to an email reply from Joanna Price, group PA&C director of Coca-Cola Pacific to Campaign. The same official stance of denial was reiterated via Coca-Cola China's weibo page.

However, food safety watchdogs tested the bottle for toxins and found traces of organic phosphorusa chemical used in pesticidesaccording to the Jilin government.

To ensure public health and safety, local authorities have warned Chinese consumers to avoid drinking the said Minute Maid dairy drink, called Guoli Naiyou, or Pulpy Milky. Orders were also given to recall the affected product from supermarket shelves.

 

Source:
Campaign China

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