Coca-Cola pulls Coca-Cola Zero after Venezuela bans sale, alleges it has harmful ingredients
By APFriday, June 12, 2009
Coca-Cola pulls Coca-Cola Zero in Venezuela
CARACAS, Venezuela — Coca-Cola Corp. said Thursday it has temporarily stopped selling its Coca-Cola Zero brand in Venezuela after the country’s health ministry banned it, claiming the no-calorie soft drink contains harmful ingredients.
The Atlanta-based company, the world’s largest soft drink maker, also said it is temporarily halting production of the soft drink in Venezuela, where it had been available for two months.
Spokeswoman Kerry Kerr said Venezuela has not raised specific concerns about the formula or the company’s local operations. She said the company is in discussions with the government and she said the brand is safe.
On Wednesday, Health Minister Jesus Mantilla said the ban is aimed at “preserving the health of Venezuelans,” but he hasn’t elaborated.
In March 2008, the company removed the artificial sweetener sodium cyclamate, which is banned in the U.S. but legal to use in many other countries, from Coca-Cola Zero in Mexico. The Venezuelan version does not have that ingredient, Kerr said.
Coca-Cola Zero launched in the United States in 2005.
