TMCnet News
CORRECTED: Coca-Cola group to recall 570,000 bottles of soft drinks+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TOKYO, May 1_(Kyodo) _ The Coca-Cola group of companies in Japan said Monday they will recall a total of 570,000 bottles of six types of soft drinks, as they have found iron powder to have mingled with the products. The beverages -- in plastic bottles of three sizes -- were manufactured between March 26 and 30 at one of the group's factories in Shiga Prefecture, and sold in a total of 13 prefectures mainly in central and western Japan. The group claimed that even if consumers were to drink the beverages mixed with the powder, they would inflict no harm. The six affected products are 2-liter Aquarius and 500-milliliter Qoo Tottemo Orange, as well as Coca-Cola, Diet Coca-Cola, Fanta Orange and Fanta Grape bottled in 1.5-liter containers. The group became aware of the contamination after a customer alerted them on April 27 of the presence in one of the drinks of "a substance which looks like black powder," it said. A subsequent in-house probe found that a minute amount of iron powder had been commingled with the products due to a malfunction of measuring equipment installed on the production line. If consumers send back the products to the group's secretariat in Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture on a pay-on-arrival basis, the group will refund the cost of the products, it said. |