‘Foul’ beer recalled

By Andy Georgiades

MORE than 1,300 cases of a popular imported beer were recalled from store shelves in Cyprus after an accident at a brewery coolant plant in England last week.

According to reports, brewing giant Bass announced the worldwide recall of about 8 million cans following complaints from 17 customers about an awful taste in their beer.

The massive recall involved cans and bottles from five products: Carling Lager, Carling Premier, Worthington Draught Bitter, Tennent’s Gold Beer and Caffrey’s Irish Ale.

“We’ve taken the proper precautions and taken 1,320 cases off stock,” said Ian Giffin, commercial manager for Savero Trading Ltd., the importers of Caffrey’s into Cyprus.

He said the stock had been replaced and that there had been no reports of the contaminated beer in the country so far.

The head of public health services, when contacted by the Cyprus Mail, said he had no information about the recall.

Giffin said consumers would know immediately if they had an infected can because of the foul taste.

Draught beer has not been affected.

The product was contaminated by a coolant said to be used in some chilled dairy products.

Contamination was due to a crack found in the cooling equipment used to process the beer at the Cape Hill brewery in Birmingham.

“The product is not harmful unless consumed in excessive quantities,” said Giffin. “You’d need to drink 200 to 300 litres to become ill.”

The brewer has asked its customers to return any cans and bottles with one of the letters F-G-H-J-K-L-M before the expiry date back to the place of purchase for a refund.

A hotline was set up in the United Kingdom by Bass. It received 20,000 calls from anxious beer drinkers in just a couple of days.

Caffrey’s has been available in Cyprus for the past two years, but only on tap for about four months. More than 25,000 cases have been sold since the beer’s introduction.