Coca-Cola insisted its products were safe to drink after Taiwan refused the import of Coke Zero ingredients from Shanghai, saying they contained a banned preservative.

Coke preservative banned in Taiwan, legal in mainland

零度可樂原液被指防腐劑超標(biāo) 辯稱在華添加合法

Coca-Cola insisted its products were safe to drink after Taiwan refused the import of Coke Zero ingredients from Shanghai, saying they contained a banned preservative.

Responding to the allegations Sunday, the beverage giant said its drinks were safe and in compliance with mainland food safety law, which permits the use of methyl para-hydroxybenzoate as a food additive.

Coca Cola said the chemical is a widely used, acceptable additive in food and drink.

It said the Coke Zero ingredients were transported to Taiwan by mistake, and its products in Taiwan do not include the preservative.

Taiwan has banned the additive because it may lead to stomach upsets, inflammation of the skin and higher female hormone levels.

Taiwan had also detected the overuse of benzoic and hexadienic acid as preservatives in the ingredients. Both are permitted as acceptable additives in food and drink.

Coca-Cola said the batch of ingredients was for use in fast food restaurants like McDonald's and would not be used in bottled drinks sold in stores.

Zhai Mei, a Coca-Cola Co. official, said the sample tested in Taiwan was concentrated ingredients, and the percentage of the preservatives would be much lower when diluted.

來自上海公司的零度可口可樂原液，在臺(tái)灣被檢出了防腐劑“對(duì)羥基苯甲酸甲酯”。昨日，可口可樂公司稱該防腐劑在內(nèi)地是安全的。

可口可樂中國(guó)公司稱此次臺(tái)灣涉及的防腐劑是中國(guó)大陸食品法律法規(guī)所認(rèn)可的安全添加劑之一。

公司稱該防腐劑被廣泛接受并可安全使用于食品及飲料類。

公司解釋該批原液是不小心誤送到臺(tái)灣的，在臺(tái)灣銷售的產(chǎn)品中不包括該防腐劑。

如果長(zhǎng)期大量食用對(duì)羥基苯甲酸甲酯，可能會(huì)造成腸胃不適，皮膚發(fā)炎和產(chǎn)生女性荷爾蒙。

此次在原液中查出另外2種防腐劑“苯甲酸”、“己二烯酸”。苯甲酸是運(yùn)用廣泛的防腐劑，己二烯酸是經(jīng)國(guó)家批準(zhǔn)的。

可口可樂公司稱，此次被查出有問題的產(chǎn)品是用于現(xiàn)調(diào)機(jī)里面，比如麥當(dāng)勞等快餐店所銷售的杯裝飲料產(chǎn)品，而并非一般超市銷售的瓶裝飲料。

可口可樂中國(guó)區(qū)公關(guān)事務(wù)總監(jiān)翟嵋表示，臺(tái)灣檢測(cè)的樣本是未稀釋的濃縮原液，而最終銷售的產(chǎn)品稀釋后是完全安全的。