Coca Cola responds to death from poisonous Minute Maid drink

Following the death of a 10-year-old boy poisoned by a strawberry-flavoured beverage made by Minute Maid, a subsidiary of Coca-Cola, the company has responded with a prepared statement. "This case does not involve a product quality issue, and government authorities are carrying out detailed investigations at this time".

After the incident which happened in Changchun city, Coca-Cola said it carried out "comprehensive internal reviews" of production and logistics processes, and conducted third-party tests on the same batches that included the bottle consumed by the boy and "found everything to be safe", according to an email reply from Joanna Price, group PA&C director of Coca-Cola Pacific to Campaign. The same official stance of denial was reiterated via Coca-Cola China's weibo page.

However, food safety watchdogs tested the bottle for toxins and found traces of organic phosphorus, a chemical used in pesticides, according to the Jilin government.