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Coke products recalled
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June 15, 1999: 11:25 a.m. ET
Netherlands, Luxembourg also ban sales of beverage giant's products amid health scare
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LONDON (CNNfn) - A new health scare confronted Europe Tuesday as several countries withdrew soft drinks made by Coca-Cola Co. from store shelves just a day after the Belgium government ordered a recall of the beverage giant's products.
Luxembourg and the Netherlands imposed blanket recalls on Coke products Tuesdays as officials at the company scrambled to isolate the source of a tainted batch of beverages believed responsible for the sudden illness of dozens of schoolchildren in Belgium.
The Belgian unit of the U.S.-based beverage giant recalled 2.5 million bottles of Coke (KO) last week after about 30 children became ill after drinking it. Altogether, more than 100 children have reportedly fallen ill with headaches, nausea and shivering symptoms after drinking Coke products.
Coca-Cola Belgium said last week it had withdrawn the 20-centiliter glass bottles in response to consumer complaints of an "off taste." The company said a subsequent analysis by an independent laboratory turned up no harmful substances.
A Coke official professed bewilderment Tuesday at the cause of the illness, though the company stressed it would comply with the order to withdraw its products.
"We are searching frantically and hope to have a definitive answer in the next few days," Maureen O'Sullivan, a Coke spokeswoman in Brussels, was quoted as telling the local VRT radio station.
O'Sullivan confirmed that Coke was complying with a Belgian government order to withdraw the company's products -- including the flagship Coke brands, Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite and Nestea -- from store shelves.
In Luxembourg, sales of Coke products such as Minute Maid, Cherry Coke, Fanta and Sprite were banned. In France, meanwhile, a suspect batch of Coke products from a factory in Dunkirk was recalled, though sales of Coke products elsewhere were not believed to be affected.
German and Spanish health authorities played down the scare by insisting they do not import Coke products from Belgium. In the U.K., a Coke official maintained the company's products were made with ingredients from local suppliers.
The spate of recalls comes as Europe grapples with the fallout from a contaminated-feed scare, originating in Belgium, that affected large stocks of chicken, beef, eggs and pork. The incident forced two Belgian ministers to resign in disgrace amid allegations that they withheld information about the contamination from the public. The scandal has also sparked a stand-off with the European Commission, which accused the Belgians of failing to fully purge their markets of contaminated food.
Belgium's Health Ministry ordered a ban Monday on the sale of all Coke products after children at six Belgian schools developed headaches and nausea after drinking the company's beverages.
The ministry also advised citizens not to drink Coca-Cola products until the tainted source had been tracked definitively.
A European Union spokesman said the impact of the tainting appeared to be limited to a few countries. Belgium's health ministry said a toxicology test traced hemolysis, a blood disorder, in those who had ingested the suspect batch of Coke products.
Coke's withdrawal also seemed to be affecting sales of Nestle's Nestea soft drinks, which are bottled and distributed by Coca-Cola.
A Nestle spokesman told Reuters it was too early to tell how seriously the Coke recall in Belgium would affect company sales.
The latest series of food scares are the worst in Europe since Britain's "mad cow" beef scandal three years ago. The episode led to a blanket ban on British beef exports -- since lifted -- to other European Union member states.
--from staff and wire reports
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Coca-Cola Co.
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