A Japanese firm recalled eight million bottles of U.S. mineral water Monday after consumers complained it smelled like insecticide and medicine.
The case is the latest food scare in Japan, where consumer confidence has been shaken after several people complained of becoming ill from eating Chinese-made dumplings containing insecticide and instant noodles that had a chemical used in mothballs.
Otsuka Beverage Co Ltd, which is unlisted, said it is recalling the Crystal Geyser mineral water after receiving 75 complaints in October about its smell.
Spokesman Kazuhiko Horiuchi said the firm did not find any abnormalities in the water, but the plastic bottles may have absorbed smells to which they were exposed during storage.
He said no one had been made ill and the company saw no health effects.
The water's manufacturer, CG Roxane LLC, said in a statement that Otsuka had conducted an "over-inclusive recovery" despite receiving only about 75 complaints.
San Francisco-based CG Roxane said that no Crystal Geyser water sold in the United States had the odor problem, which it said occurred at some point after manufacturing.
It was "likely due to adverse storage conditions, which occurred either during overseas transport or storage in Japan by Otsuka Beverage Co," CG Roxane said, adding that the water poses no health or safety risk.
On its website, CG Roxane says its water can be kept for several years but is best stored in an odor-free environment.
Japan has been hit by a string of food safety scandals in recent years, after traditional sweets and cookies were found to have false labeling and after tainted food, such as frozen dumplings and beans, were found to be imported from China.
Last month, Kirin Beverage, part of Japanese brewer Kirin Holdings Co Ltd, recalled over half a million bottles of French mineral water Volvic after finding some of it smelled like paint.
Reuters