PHA-Exchange> Coca-Cola withdraws bottled water from the UK

[UNNIKRISHNAN P.V. (Dr)]

Coca-Cola withdraws bottled water from the UK
George Wright
Friday March 19 2004
The Guardian



Coca-Cola's campaign to conquer the bottled water market suffered a
further setback today, when the company announced it was withdrawing its
new Dasani product from UK shops.


Dasani - the biggest-selling bottled water brand in the United States -
was launched here amid a blaze of publicity earlier this month as "one of
the purest waters around".


But the entire batch was being withdrawn today after the drink was found
to contain levels of bromate - a substance linked with an increased cancer
risk - in excess of UK legal standards.


Coca-Cola stressed there was no health risk from drinking bottles of
Dasani. A spokeswoman said the decision to recall UK supplies of the drink
was voluntary and a precautionary measure.


She said: "In very, very large quantities (bromate) can affect your health
but we have been advised by the FSA that the levels of bromate that have
been detected in Dasani do not pose an immediate health risk.


"We have not been ordered to withdraw the product, it was our decision
because it did not meet regulations.  Our consumers rightly expect that
our products meet only the highest possible standards for quality as well
as all UK regulations."


The recall of about 500,000 bottles of Dasani has already begun and should
be completed within 24 hours, the company said


The Food Standards Agency (FSA) confirmed there was "no immediate risk to
public health".


It said in a statement: "Coca-Cola, the makers of Dasani, informed the
Food Standards Agency yesterday that some samples of their bottled water
product, Dasani, have been found to contain bromate at higher levels than
are legally permitted in the UK for either bottled or tap water.


"Coca-Cola has advised the agency that they are immediately withdrawing
the product from sale. This is a sensible measure by the company as
bromate is a chemical that could cause an increased cancer risk as a
result of long-term exposure, although there is no immediate risk to
public health.


"However, the agency understands that some consumers may choose not to
drink any Dasani they purchased prior to its withdrawal, given the levels
of bromate it contains."


The recall is the latest headache for Coca-Cola's marketing men and women,
who sought to convince consumers that Dasani was "as pure as bottled water
gets" - despite the fact that it was essentially tap water, sourced from
the mains supply to Coca-Cola's factory in Sidcup, Kent.


To start with, the Ã,£7m launch of Dasani in the UK was given short
thrift by a largely sceptical UK press. The drink was memorably described
as "council pop with frills on top" by one columnist.


A string of mocking articles drew comparisons between Coca-Cola's sale of
treated south-east London tap water and an episode of the BBC comedy Only
Fools and Horses, in which 'Del Boy' repackaged bottled tap water as
Peckham Spring.


Many papers, unhelpfully for Coca-Cola, also reminded readers that while
Dasani sells for 95p per 500ml, Thames Water, which supplies homes in the
area where the product is sourced and bottled, sells the water at the
equivalent of 0.03p per 500ml.


The soft drinks giant claims a "highly sophisticated purification process"
removed any impurities, such as "bacteria, viruses, salts, minerals,
sugars, proteins and toxin particles" and describes Dasani on the product
label as "pure, still water".


But the FSA launched an investigation into the labelling claim after it
emerged that Dasani is sourced from mains water.

Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited





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