Coca-Cola safety recall: what other drinks are being taken off the shelves?

Coca-Cola has recalled some of its soft drinks in Europe after higher-than-normal levels of a chemical called chlorate were detected in bottles and cans at a production plant in Belgium.

Chlorate is a by-product of the breakdown of chlorine-based sanitisers and chlorine chemicals, which are frequently used to sterilise water.

It can cause iodine deficiency in people and is regulated with legal maximum residue limits for a range of foods, including fresh produce, according to Food Standards Scotland.

What drinks are affected in Europe?

Batches of Coca Cola, Fanta, Sprite, Minute Maid and Fuze Tea were among the products recalled in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, the company said on Tuesday. The recall concerns drinks with production codes 328 GE to 338 GE.

Are drinks in the UK affected?

An investigation has been launched in the UK after Coca-Cola recalled drinks in some countries in Europe.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said on Monday it has now opened an investigation into whether any Coca-Cola products containing higher levels of the chemical are on sale in the UK.

Anne Gravett of the FSA said on Monday: “The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is investigating if any Coca-Cola products containing ‘higher levels’ of a chemical called chlorate are on the UK market.

“If we identify any unsafe food, we’ll take action to ensure it is removed and alert consumers.”

Coca-Cola said it had not received any consumer complaints in Great Britain, and it had “alerted the authorities on this matter and will continue to collaborate with them”.

How did this problem come to light?

Health authorities in Denmark, Portugal and Romania were notified by the European Union’s rapid alert system to investigate whether shop shelves or vending machines had been stocked with potentially contaminated soft drinks. It designated the risk as “serious.”

Chlorate comes from chlorine disinfectants which are used in the treatment of water used for food processing. The chemical has been linked to potentially serious health problems, notably among children by interfering with the proper functioning of the thyroid gland.

Coca-Cola said that it tracked the problem back to one specific container used in its water treatment process at its factory in the city of Ghent while conducting routine safety checks.

What can consumers do?

Coca-Cola has advised customers not to consume drinks from the batches concerned and to return them to the point of sale to obtain a refund. “We apologise to consumers and our commercial partners,” the company said.

Experts say consumers would have to drink a lot of any product contaminated with chlorate to suffer vomiting or other serious illness.

“It is almost non-existent or very unlikely that those large quantities are present in it," Philippe Jorens, a poisons and critical care professor at Antwerp University Hospital, told Belgian public broadcaster VTM. “You have to have consumed so many different bottles of it to possibly see an effect.”