Coke Postpones European Launch of Dasani

The Coca-Cola Co. said earlier this week that it would postpone the launch of its Dasani bottled water in Europe and its UK relaunch after the product was found last week to contain excess levels of bromate.

But despite the damage done to the high-profile Dasani brand launch through its voluntary recall on the advice of the UK's food watchdog, the Atlanta-based soft drinks giant said it retained "full confidence" in Dasani.

"Following the voluntary withdrawal in Great Britain last week of Dasani due to a quality issue, it (Coca-Cola) has decided not to reintroduce Dasani into Great Britain at this time," the company said in a statement.

Coca-Cola has also postponed the introduction of Dasani in France and Germany, scheduled for April and May respectively.

Coca-Cola began the recall of about 500,000 bottles of Dasani from store shelves in Britain after tests showed the recently launched drink contained levels of potentially harmful bromate above legal standards.

The company said the problems in Britain occurred when the amount of bromide in the water used to manufacture Dasani led to the formation of unacceptable levels of bromate during the ozonization process used in purification.

The Dasani samples had tested at within a range of about 10 to 22 parts bromate per billion. British limits for bromate are 10 parts per billion. European tap water limits are 25 parts per billion.

The launch of Dasani in January was criticized after it emerged that the British version was in fact treated and purified tap water -- a widespread practice in the global bottled-water industry.

Source: Coca-Cola