On 31 August, as a precautionary measure, Britvic Ireland withdrew from Northern Ireland 1-litre still Ballygowan sports water and 75cl still Ballygowan with ‘best before’ dates of end of May 2013, because the products had an ‘off’ odour. The Food Standards Agency issued a formal product withdrawal information notice.
While efficient product recalls demonstrate best practice in manufacturing system analysis and brand management, this couldn’t have happened at a worse time for Britvic, as it has only just started to resupply shops with Fruit Shoot.
The Ballygowan water is only distributed in Northern Ireland, so the costs of the recall should be limited. While the press may enjoy connecting the two recalls, I doubt consumers notice.
Bill Bruce is group editorial director of FoodBev Media and editor of Water Innovation magazine.
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