Coca-Cola recalls drinks over safety concerns
The firm said in a statement that the recall was focused on Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. It added that just five product lines had been shipped to Britain and had already been sold.
Affected products include the Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Tropico and Minute Maid brands, according to the Belgium branch of Coca-Cola's international bottling and distribution operation.
Chlorate can be produced when chlorine-based disinfectants are used in water treatment and food processing.
"Independent expert analysis concludes that any associated risk for consumers is very low," a spokesperson told the BBC.
Coca-Cola said it had not received any consumer complaints in Great Britain, and that it had "alerted the authorities on this matter and will continue to collaborate with them."
The company did not specify which products have been affected in the UK but said the five product lines were shipped to the UK towards the end of last year.
Exposure to high levels of chlorate can cause health problems including thyroid problems, especially among children and infants.
NHS and private nutritionist Caron Grazette told the BBC: "We need to question whether or not we want to digest chemicals in soft drinks which are used in the production of fireworks and disinfectants, however small the quantity".
Chlorate's effects on humans when taken in excess include nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and limiting the blood's ability to absorb oxygen, added Ms Grazette, citing recent research into the chemical.
The higher levels of chlorate were discovered during routine testing at the company's production facility in Ghent, Belgium, according to an unnamed company spokesperson quoted by the AFP news agency.
The majority of unsold products had been withdrawn from shelves, according to AFP, and the company was in the process of withdrawing the rest.
A Coca-Cola spokesperson said it "considers the quality and safety of its products as its top priority".
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Yahoo
BBC forced to correct report claiming Gazan woman died from malnutrition
The BBC was forced to issue another correction on Monday after reporting that a Gazan woman had died from malnutrition, when in fact she was suffering from leukemia. On Sunday, the BBC ran a story headlined "Malnourished Gazan woman flown to Italy dies in hospital." BBC journalist Rachel Muller-Heyndyk reported that the woman "was evacuated to Italy for treatment while severely emaciated," and highlighted, "The UN has warned of widespread malnutrition in Gaza" that has largely been blamed on Israel. "The University Hospital of Pisa said that she suffered a cardiac arrest and died on Friday, less than 48 hours after arriving," the initial report said. "The hospital said she had suffered severe loss of weight and muscle, while Italian news agencies reported she was suffering from severe malnutrition." However, the headline was later changed to "Gazan woman flown to Italy dies in hospital" and added that further reporting from both the hospital and Israeli aid officials found a "very complex clinical picture," including that the woman had suffered from leukemia. The BBC published a clarification at the very bottom of the article. Bbc Marred By Recent String Of Retractions And Apologies Related To Israel-hamas War Coverage "This article's headline originally said that Marah Abu Zuhri died of malnutrition, with the introduction stating that she suffered a cardiac arrest and died on Friday," the correction read. "The headline has been amended to remove the reference to malnutrition being the cause of death in what the hospital described as a 'very complex clinical picture.'" Read On The Fox News App In a comment to Fox News Digital, a BBC spokesperson said that it was not aware of the woman's leukemia before publishing and corrected the headline and subsequent tweet on the story after learning more details. "We were not initially aware that Marah Abu Zuhri was being treated for leukemia," the statement read. "In line with usual editorial practice, we added this to the story after the Israeli authorities put the information into the public domain, in what the hospital has described as 'a very complex clinical picture.' We have amended the original headline and tweet and added an explanatory note." The BBC has had a long history of issuing corrections and apologies regarding its reporting on the Israel-Hamas war, with errors that tend to favor or sympathize with the terrorist organization. The BBC was one of several news organizations that rushed to report false claims made by the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry that Israel had bombed the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, resulting in 500 civilian casualties, shortly after the October 7 terrorist attack. In November 2023, the BBC apologized after misquoting a Reuters report and distorting a quote by an IDF spokesman claiming the IDF was "targeting people including medical teams as well as Arab speakers" in Gaza's Al Shifa hospital. The IDF spokesman had actually said that Arab-speaking soldiers were on the ground to ensure aid made its way to the hospital. The BBC apologized for reporting unproven claims about Israel carrying out "summary executions" of Gaza civilians in January 2024. In February, the BBC apologized after its anchor Nicky Schiller referred to Israeli hostages as "prisoners" on air. Bbc News Issues On-air Apology For False Claim Israel Targeting Staff And 'Arab Speakers' At Gaza Hospital Also in February, the BBC pulled the documentary "Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone" from its streaming platform after unintentionally profiling a Hamas member's 13-year-old son in the film. The BBC issued an apology for being unaware of the connection at the time and added a new note to the film to offer more context. An internal BBC report in July found that the broadcaster breached editorial guidelines for the film after it was learned that three members of the production company Hoyo Films, which produced the film, knew that the boy's father was a Hamas official. The probe reprimanded the BBC for not being "sufficiently proactive" with its due diligence ahead of broadcast and admonished it for a "lack of critical oversight of unanswered or partially answered questions" regarding the documentary. Last month, The New York Times also had to issue a note that an emaciated child displayed on the front page as evidence of famine in Gaza was not "born healthy" as reported, but was actually suffering from a preexisting condition unrelated to the conflict with article source: BBC forced to correct report claiming Gazan woman died from malnutrition Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Yahoo
Reclusive Turkmenistan bids to go tobacco-free in 2025
When he was a teenager, Bekmurad Khodjayev used to hide from his parents to smoke. Fifty years later, the Turkmen pensioner is still hiding, but this time from the police. "I smoke in my apartment. But if I feel like smoking in town, I find a place without surveillance cameras to avoid a fine -- an alleyway, a dead end, behind some tall bushes or trees, a deserted spot," the 64-year-old builder told AFP. The reclusive Central Asian state of seven million people, where the rate of smoking is already very low, has vowed to eradicate the habit altogether by the end of the year. Khodjayev said he had already been fined for smoking near his home. "Since then, I try not to get caught anymore," he said. The target of going tobacco-free was set in 2022 by the country's supreme leader, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, a former dentist. Only four percent of Turkmens smoke, according to the World Health Organization. There are heavy taxes and restrictions on cigarettes and smoking in almost all public places is now banned. Khodjayev says he buys cigarettes at private kiosks since state shops run by the ministry of commerce do not have them. In his kiosk in the capital Ashgabat, seller Meilis said the cigarettes came from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Iran. "Most of the time, I sell single ones. Not everyone can afford an entire pack, it's too expensive," the 21-year-old told AFP. - Steep fines - According to several smokers in Turkmenistan, a pack can cost between 50 and 170 manats ($14.20 to $48.50), while individual cigarettes cost between two and five manats. A pack is therefore around 11 percent of an average monthly salary, which was roughly 1,500 manats in 2018, according to the most recent official Turkmen statistics. Comparisons with other countries are complicated because of the double exchange rate in Turkmenistan -- an official one controlled by the state and the real one which operates on the black market. In a hospital in Ashgabat, Soltan, a doctor, welcomed the government's "active fight against tobacco". "We treat tobacco addiction. The health ministry has created centres where smokers can get free advice on quitting," she said. The authorities rely on more coercive methods with a variety of smoking bans, import restrictions and fines that can reach 200 manats. "After receiving several fines, I decided to stop definitively after the time I got caught smoking in my car in a public car park," said Ilyas Byashimov, a 24-year-old entrepreneur. - Public apologies - The Berdymukhamedovs -- Gurbanguly and his son Serdar -- have ruled the country for almost 20 years with almost absolute power. After Serdar Berdymukhamedov called in 2023 for a "no compromise" fight against smoking, around 20 people were shown on state television promising not to smoke water pipes or import tobacco illegally. There are also regular public burnings of contraband cigarettes, accompanied by shows of traditional Turkmen dancing and singing. With just a few months to go until the end of 2025, the authorities are not claiming victory in rooting out smoking. Contacted by AFP, the health ministry declined to reply -- not surprising in a country where obtaining and verifying any official information is extremely hard. Smokers seemed doubtful about a total ban. "Cigarettes will not disappear completely but will become much more expensive and there will be a black market," said Haidar Shikhiev, 60, a builder. Seller Galina Soyunova said that cigarettes "will always be available under the counter but even more expensive". "Who will buy cigarettes for the price of gold? Nobody. The question of tobacco addiction will resolve itself," she said. al-bk/dt/mmp/phz/jhb Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Yahoo
Reclusive Turkmenistan bids to go tobacco-free in 2025
When he was a teenager, Bekmurad Khodjayev used to hide from his parents to smoke. Fifty years later, the Turkmen pensioner is still hiding, but this time from the police. "I smoke in my apartment. But if I feel like smoking in town, I find a place without surveillance cameras to avoid a fine -- an alleyway, a dead end, behind some tall bushes or trees, a deserted spot," the 64-year-old builder told AFP. The reclusive Central Asian state of seven million people, where the rate of smoking is already very low, has vowed to eradicate the habit altogether by the end of the year. Khodjayev said he had already been fined for smoking near his home. "Since then, I try not to get caught anymore," he said. The target of going tobacco-free was set in 2022 by the country's supreme leader, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, a former dentist. Only four percent of Turkmens smoke, according to the World Health Organization. There are heavy taxes and restrictions on cigarettes and smoking in almost all public places is now banned. Khodjayev says he buys cigarettes at private kiosks since state shops run by the ministry of commerce do not have them. In his kiosk in the capital Ashgabat, seller Meilis said the cigarettes came from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Iran. "Most of the time, I sell single ones. Not everyone can afford an entire pack, it's too expensive," the 21-year-old told AFP. - Steep fines - According to several smokers in Turkmenistan, a pack can cost between 50 and 170 manats ($14.20 to $48.50), while individual cigarettes cost between two and five manats. A pack is therefore around 11 percent of an average monthly salary, which was roughly 1,500 manats in 2018, according to the most recent official Turkmen statistics. Comparisons with other countries are complicated because of the double exchange rate in Turkmenistan -- an official one controlled by the state and the real one which operates on the black market. In a hospital in Ashgabat, Soltan, a doctor, welcomed the government's "active fight against tobacco". "We treat tobacco addiction. The health ministry has created centres where smokers can get free advice on quitting," she said. The authorities rely on more coercive methods with a variety of smoking bans, import restrictions and fines that can reach 200 manats. "After receiving several fines, I decided to stop definitively after the time I got caught smoking in my car in a public car park," said Ilyas Byashimov, a 24-year-old entrepreneur. - Public apologies - The Berdymukhamedovs -- Gurbanguly and his son Serdar -- have ruled the country for almost 20 years with almost absolute power. After Serdar Berdymukhamedov called in 2023 for a "no compromise" fight against smoking, around 20 people were shown on state television promising not to smoke water pipes or import tobacco illegally. There are also regular public burnings of contraband cigarettes, accompanied by shows of traditional Turkmen dancing and singing. With just a few months to go until the end of 2025, the authorities are not claiming victory in rooting out smoking. Contacted by AFP, the health ministry declined to reply -- not surprising in a country where obtaining and verifying any official information is extremely hard. Smokers seemed doubtful about a total ban. "Cigarettes will not disappear completely but will become much more expensive and there will be a black market," said Haidar Shikhiev, 60, a builder. Seller Galina Soyunova said that cigarettes "will always be available under the counter but even more expensive". "Who will buy cigarettes for the price of gold? Nobody. The question of tobacco addiction will resolve itself," she said. al-bk/dt/mmp/phz/jhb
