Coca-Cola takes 'precautionary measure' and warns customers 'it cannot be ruled out'

Coca-Cola has announced a rare and massive product recall, pulling 26 million bottles of soft drinks off the shelves. The recall affects not just the stock held by households, but also supplies in stores, restaurants, and cafes, according to reports.

The directive requires all affected batches to be removed from sale immediately, with checks set to be conducted by market authorities and regional agencies in the coming days. In total, 13 million liters of soft drinks are set to be discarded.

Outlet Kronen Zeitung explained: "Due to a technical error in production, small pieces of metal can be found in the 0.5 liter bottles. The extent of this catastrophe is now clear: Coca-Cola now has to withdraw 26 million bottles of the brands Coca-Cola, Fanta, Sprite and MezzoMix from circulation."

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Coca-Cola has decided to issue a precautionary recall of the 0.5 liter PET lemonade products of the brands Coca-Cola, Fanta, Sprite and MezzoMix with a best before date between February 4, 2025 and April 12, 2025. "We advise against consuming the potentially affected products due to a possible health risk," says Coca-Cola.

The recall affects numerous lemonade varieties of the 500 milliliter brand: Coca-Cola (Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero, Coca-Cola Zero Lemon, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar Zero Caffeine, Coca-Cola Light), Fanta (Fanta Orange, Fanta Orange Zero, Fanta Lemon Zero, Fanta Exotic Zero), Sprite (Sprite, Sprite Zero) and MezzoMix.

Consumers can return the products to food retailers for a refund of the purchase price, even without presenting the receipt. Coca-Cola HBC Austria GmbH said in a statement obtained by Newsflash: "It cannot be ruled out that a very limited number of 0.5-litre PET bottles may contain small pieces of metal due to a technical error in production. We advise against consuming the potentially affected products due to a possible health risk.

"For this reason, we are recalling the above-mentioned products as a precautionary measure in close cooperation with the Austrian authorities. This warning does not mean that the health risk was caused by the producer, manufacturer, importer or distributor."