Baby Bottle artificially flavoured drink found to contain high benzoate levels

A ‘Baby Bottle Artificially Flavoured Drink on a Candy' product has been found to contain benzoate levels in breach of the 1995 food additives legislation. Benzoates are associated with urticaria (nettle rash) in some people. The U.K's Food Agency has issued a Food Alert 'For Action.'

The product is in the shape of a baby’s bottle. The teat is candy and the content of the bottle is a coloured liquid, appropriate to the flavour mentioned on the label. It has a yellow label with ‘baby bottle’ in red writing on a green background, with a picture of a cartoon baby.

Product names Drink on a Candy ‘Sour Orange Flava’, ‘Sour Strawberry Flava’, ‘Sour Cherry Flava’ and ‘Sour Apple Flava’ are known to be affected with a best before end date of 31 July 2006. The candy content of the product is 15g, the liquid content is 80ml.

The product is made in China. It was distributed on to small newsagents across the country. The supply contract was on a sale or return basis, for a fixed period of two months, beginning September 2004.

Any unsold product should have been returned to the Hollywood’s distribution centre in Liverpool, or disposed of by customers. Hollywood Distributions Ltd has not recalled the product as it believes it is unlikely that any of the product is still on the market.