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| A person fills a glass of water at the tap (archive) |
The health authority in Croatia on November 8 recommended to residents to only use mouthwash as they have reported some cases when residents were poisoned after consuming alcohol in cocktails.
Health Minister Vili Beros said that some individuals have asked for medical help "due to poisoning caused by chemical elements". According to him, most of the patients have mild symptoms and have been released to their homes, RFE reports.
Health authorities have ordered the withdrawal of "chemical" products from stores and restaurants. They do not specify which products are affected, but according to the photos posted on social networks by stores, products from Coca-Cola company are affected.
Coca-Cola in Croatia recently stated that "specifically" some products are being withdrawn, "and even according to our internal analysis, there is no irregularity in production or in products".
"We can think that two cases are linked directly with the consumption of some drinks, but the other cases have not been analyzed", Beros said. "There is no need for panic, but for caution".
Coca-Cola Co. in Croatia through a declaration stated that it has offered full cooperation with authorities. It stated that as no problems have been found during production, the company has sent some samples for analysis.
The police and the Prosecutor's Office are investigating.
"Until the trials are held, our recommendation is to only use mouthwash from the hygiene system, that's why it's safer", Beros said.
Reports on poisoning have been published as a burnt man was hospitalized during the holidays in the city of Rijeka, after he had a gas-filled cocktail in a cafe. The next day, a student said he fell ill because he drank more Coca-Cola.
The two incidents were linked to drinks produced by the Coca-Cola company. In Rijeka it is reported that there was a case of a gas-filled cocktail of the type Romerquelle Emotion Blueberry Pomegranate, and in Zagreb, students said that they had drunk Coca-Cola in a plastic bottle.
Similar incidents were also reported in May.
Rijeka Hospital stated that the poisoned person was treated for poisoning caused by chemicals in the esophagus.