Coca-Cola Issues Recall

You're going to want to a double take before you take a sip of that Coke. Amid the holiday season, Coca-Cola recalled a holiday-themed product in the United Kingdom due to a potential health hazard. Issued on Nov. 16, the recall covers Coca-Cola Zero Sugar multipacks with Christmas cardboard and was issued in response to a packaging mishap.

Consumers in the U.K. were alerted to the latest recall through a notice shared by the U.K.'s Food Standards Agency, the region's government agency that's comparable to the U.S. FDA or USDA. Per that notice, the recall affects Coca-Cola Zero Sugar multipacks with Christmas cardboard. The recalled product was sold in a multipack containing 24 330-ml cans. Affected by the recall are those multipacks with Best Before dates of 31 October 2023 and 30 November 2023 and batch codes 301WA1, 302WA1, 303WA1, 304WA1, 305WA5, 306WA5, 307WA5 and 308WA5. Coca-Cola confirmed in a release that no other products are affected by the recall. An image of the recalled product can be found by clicking here.

The recall, which only affects "a small number" of Coca-Cola Zero Sugar multipacks, is due to some packs of the product having been wrongly boxed, resulting in them actually containing Coca-Cola Original taste. While "the quality of the drink itself is not affected," the product is a potential risk to consumers who need to manage their sugar intake. Due to this, consumers who need to manage their sugar intake are advised not to drink the recalled product. Consumers can instead contact Coca-Cola on 0800 22 77 11 to have a team member arrange for a replacement product. Coca-Cola's lines are open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time. The company said in a statement, "the safety and quality of our products is of paramount importance. We are sorry that on this occasion a small number of our products have not met our required standards."

Coca-Cola is not the only company to pull a holiday-themed product from store shelves amid the ongoing holiday season. The company's recall follows a recall of Plum Puddings in Australia. On Nov. 7, Chocolatier Australia Pty Ltd. issued a voluntary recall of its Plum Puddings after a labeling mishap resulted in the presence of undeclared almonds and undeclared alcohol. Prior to that, Cedar Creek Popcorn recalled its popular 18 oz. Old-Fashioned Caramel Holiday Popcorn Box due to a label mishap that resulted in the box claiming the product to be "gluten free" despite there being elements with gluten contained in the product.