Coca-Cola's water in UK health scare
By Adam Jones in London, Jo Johnson in Paris and Betty Liu in Atlanta
Published: March 19 2004 14:34 | Last Updated: March 19 2004 20:11
Coca-Cola, which was rocked five years ago by a contamination scare in Europe, was forced to withdraw its Dasani bottled water brand from the UK on Friday after discovering that it contained illegal levels of a chemical that could increase the risk of cancer.
The embarrassing voluntary recall came just weeks after Dasani's turbulent UK launch, in which Coca-Cola was pilloried for using tap water instead of a natural spring as its source.
Dasani, which has been sold in the US since 1999, is essentially tap water that has been treated and bottled. Coca-Cola had claimed it was able to improve the purity of tap water through a process perfected by Nasa, the US space agency, before adding "a perfect balance of minerals".
But on Friday Coca-Cola admitted the much-vaunted manufacturing process had accidentally introduced illegal levels of bromate, a chemical that could cause an increased risk of cancer after long-term exposure.
The Food Standards Agency, which regulates food safety in the UK, said there was no immediate risk to public health.
It was also a painful reminder of a badly-handled health scare in France and Belgium in 1999, which became a big public relations problem for the company.
Thames Water, the UK utility that supplied the tap water to Coca-Cola's Dasani plant, was put in the bizarre position of having to reassure its domestic customers on Thursday that their mains water was safe to drink. "What we took exception to was the initial implication that Thames Water supplies weren't wholesome," it said. Thames Water tap water costs 0.03p for a half-litre, against up to 95p ($1.74) for the same amount of Dasani.
Analysts at JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley both questioned the viability of the company's plan to launch Dasani in other European countries. But Coca-Cola is still planning to launch Dasani on April 19 in France, the most sophisticated bottled water market in the world.
Paul Gordon, president of Coca-Cola France, said: "The arrival of Coca-Cola in the bottled water market in France is as important to the company as the launch of Coca-Cola light [as Diet Coke is known] in 1988." The Dasani to be sold in France is a genuine mineral water.
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