Frucor recall affects up to 130,000 bottles
The beverage company behind V energy drinks says it has added call centre staff to cope with a product recall.
Drinks-maker Frucor says about 130,000 bottles of NZ Natural water could be affected in a product recall.
However, as retailers remove the potentially-affected bottles from shelves, the company says it believes the number of affected bottles is "limited".
A customer complaint about algal growth has prompted a recall of 1.5-litre NZ Natural still spring water bottle packs.
Frucor, the drinks company behind V energy drink and owned by Japanese giant Suntory, warns 1.5 litre still spring water bottles from a multi-pack, with best before dates between October 24 2013 and October 30 2013, inclusive.
The company says it has received eight bottles, as of this afternoon.
Ceo Mark Callaghan says the bottles had been with retailers for some time so some may still be sitting on the shelves of people's pantries.
“We believe the number of potentially affected bottles to be limited.
"However, as a precautionary measure we have recalled a whole production run, within which those bottles were produced.
"The consumer services department has extra staff on hand to deal with the recall and have experienced a small increase in the number of calls being received today.”
Mr Callaghan said in a statement yesterday the problem originated from random bottles within a single run not being cleaned properly by a machine.
He says this meant small amounts of green algae could grow in the bottles when they were exposed to sunlight.
NZ Natural water is sold across New Zealand.
Anyone concerned about their health should seek medical advice.
It is estimated New Zealanders drink somewhere around 55 million litres of bottled water a year, spending a conservative $90 million.
However, this country has a low per-capita consumption of bottled water compared to other western countries.
Frucor's consumer services department can be reached at 0800 502 929.
David Williams
Wed, 15 Aug 2012
Wed, 15 Aug 2012
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Frucor recall affects up to 130,000 bottles
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