Alert on bottled water suspected of being contaminated with bacterium
The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) today (December 7) advised people not to drink Metromint brand flavoured water which may be contaminated with bacterium Bacillus cereus.
The CFS also appealed to the trade to stop selling the product.
The affected products are 16.9-ounce bottles of Metromint brand flavoured water (Peppermint, Spearmint, Orangemint and Lemonmint) with a "Best Before" date prior to 2008/12/21(Dec 21, 2008). The "Best Before" date is on the shoulder of the bottle.
The appeal was made as the Food and Drug Administration of the United States had alerted consumers not to consume the affected products.
Bacillus cereus is a ubiquitous micro-organism of the environment, usually found in contaminated food. It may produce toxin under favourable conditions like room temperature. Symptoms include diarrhoea and vomiting may occur within hours of ingestion.
"The CFS contacted the US authorities for further information. We have alerted the trade and are closely monitoring the situation," a CFS spokesman said.
Meanwhile, following reports about detection of potassium bromate in potato chips, the CFS has taken 14 samples of concerned products of the same brands, namely Pringles and Bourbon, for tests on potassium bromate. All results were satisfactory.