Ribena cordial drinks recalled over ‘manufacturing error’
Japanese company Suntory says it has temporarily stopped deliveries for the affected drinks from its factory in Shah Alam to distributors and trading partners.
Japanese beverage company Suntory said it had moved to withdraw the drinks voluntarily, but did not reveal the exact problem.
Its regional general manager for Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore, Lee Hon Tong, was quoted by Channel NewsAsia today as saying that all Ribena cordial drinks with specified expiry dates from Aug 12 were being recalled.
“We wish to announce that during a routine quality check in our factory, we found one error in our manufacturing process,” he said, without giving any further explanation.
He said the “voluntary decision” would involve batches of the brand, comprising Ribena Cordial Blackcurrant (expiry from May until August 2018), Ribena Cordial Blackcurrant and Glucose (May until August 2018), Ribena Cordial Blackcurrant and Strawberry (February until March 2018), Ribena Cordial Blackcurrant and Blueberry (February until March 2018), Ribena Cordial Blackcurrant and Apple (April until May 2018).
Lee was quoted as saying that the company had temporarily stopped deliveries for all the affected drinks from its factory in Shah Alam to its distributors and trading partners.
He said Suntory regarded consumers’ safety as being of the utmost importance and that it constantly monitored and checked all information related to its products in a safe and effective way.
“We guarantee that we will try our very best to resolve this issue and will announce as soon as we can when we are able to continue our manufacturing process and product deliveries,” he was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) questioned if the recall had started because some retailers were allegedly giving special discounts on the product during the first week of August.
“We urge the authorities to remove all the affected products from the shelves and announce to the public soonest possible,” its president, SM Mohamed Idris, said in a statement today.
He said consumers who had bought the products should return them and seek refunds from the outlets where they were purchased.
“On the other hand, we also want to call upon consumers to drink fresh fruit juices that they extract rather than sugar-laden cordials and ‘fruit juices’ that come in boxes or bottles,” he added.
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