Drinkers rush to buy gin that was recalled for excessive alcohol content
Liquor stores in Canada reported a surge of sales as shoppers rushed to stock up a popular brand of gin that had been recalled because it has more than double alcohol content indicated on its label.
The bottles with the product code of “L16304”, have since been removed from stores. Bacardi, the distributor of Bombay gin products, however asked customers with these bottles to return them as soon as possible.
According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the batch of bottles affected were bottled before being diluted to the proper 40 percent alcohol content by volume and, instead, came out with 77 percent.
The agency explained that it was investigating the matter, which may lead to the recall of other products. There have been no reported illnesses associated with drinking the gin.
RECALL
Bombay Sapphire is a Bacardi Limited brand, a Bermuda-based privately-held company best known for its namesake rum. It also owns Grey Goose Vodka and Dewar’s.
According to Bacardi, which sells its drinks in 160 countries, no markets other than Ontario, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Alberta, Quebec and Saskatchewan are impacted.
An isolated consumer complaint triggered the recall and the company is conducting a review of its third-party bottler.
“Bacardi is committed to quality for all of the premium products within its portfolio,” spokeswoman Amy Federman said. “The over-proof product inadvertently entered the bottling line during a short period of time when they were switching from one bottling tank to another bottling tank.”
Bacardi is the world’s fourth largest spirits producer, churning out about 300 million liters of drinks per year, according to Jeremy Cunnington, senior alcoholic drinks analyst at Euromonitor International.
