Coca-Cola Europacific Partners PLC (LSE:CCEP, NASDAQ:CCEP) has recalled a host of soft drinks brands across Europe due to safety fears after finding high levels of a chlorine by-product in cans and bottles.
Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta, Fuze Tea, Minute Maid, Nalu, Royal Bliss and Tropico are the drinks being recalled due to the "excessively high chlorate content", CCEP said.
Coca-Cola Europacific told AFP that the contaminated drinks have been distributed in Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, France and Luxembourg since November.
Chlorate, which can cause iodine deficiency, is a by-product of disinfectants widely used in water treatment and food processing.
"The majority of the affected and unsold products have already been removed from store shelves and we continue to take measures to remove all remaining products from the market," Coca-Cola told AFP.
The group said a “considerable quantity". of chlorate had been identified in the drinks, which was discovered during checks at a plant in Ghent.
Belgium's food safety regulator has issued a recall "due to excessively high chlorate content" adding the products involved carry the codes 328 GE to 338 GE.
The production code can be found on the bottom of the can or on the neck/label of the glass bottle.
Shares in CCEP rose 1% to 6,280p.