Coca-Cola Works With China Authorities to Investigate Poisoning

[Richard Roman]

Just to let you all know.....

 

Coca-Cola Co. (KO), the world’s largest soft-drink maker, said it’s cooperating with Chinese authorities investigating the death of a child who China News Service said died after consuming a Minute Maid milk beverage.

The child and an adult in the northeastern Chinese city of Changchun, became ill from food poisoning after consuming the drink, China News Service reported today, citing police. The report said the drink contained pesticide, without giving further details.

Coca-Cola checked batch samples of the beverage and found the product safe and within standards, Joanna Price, a spokeswoman, said. Minute Maid is one of Coca-Cola’s bestselling brands in China, according to researcher Euromonitor International.

The company is cooperating closely with authorities investigating the case, she said. “Our company takes the recent incidents in Changchun of Jilin Province very seriously,” she said.

[Fin MacDonald]

Methomyl is metabolite of Thiocarb.  I gather there is no homeowner use for these pesticides.  They have been found in a great many foods, including apples, sweet corn, chickens and eggs, potatoes, tomatoes, wheat, and significantly, milk in both goats and cows.  On a seperate but related matter, the Center for Science and Environment found that Coke in India had thirty times the levels of pesticides (such as malathion, DDT, and Lindane) allowed by EU standards.  I wouldn't bet on sabotage at all. 

[Richard Roman]

CHANGCHUN, December 6 (Xinhua) -- Chinese police said on Tuesday that the Coca-Cola brand milk drinks suspected of causing one death and sickening three others in Changchun, the capital city of northeastern Jilin province, were deliberately poisoned.

On Nov. 28, a boy died and his mother was poisoned after having the flavored milk made by the Coca-Cola subsidiary Minute Maid in Jilin. The mother remains hospitalized, but she is in stable condition.

In a separate incident, two other Changchun residents were hospitalized after drinking the same product. They have been treated and discharged from hospital.

The two incidents have prompted the province to pull all of the Minute Maid products from shelves.

Police said samples taken from the problematic drinks contained Methomyl and thiodicarb -- substances used in pesticides.

[Chris Knight]

For a bear with very little brain, you have good taste in restaurants! LOL

[Richard Roman]

My guess is sabotage - someone does not like Coca Cola - but I am a bear with very little brain!

[Chris Knight]

I haven't heard of anyone else getting sick. Could it be just a one-time thing, like a disgruntled employee, perhaps?

[Richard ridealgh]

unfortunate news for changchun. when we took gaea into hospital, the taxi driver asked if she'd drank the juice.
be careful people.

[Quentin Liu]

This is kinda serious these days in Changchun. It is all over the news.