Coca-Cola problems in Belgium

["Campbell, Jon" <Campbell@Rational.Com>]

This is very suspicious. Coke from one bottling plant has been recalled
because of contamination, possibly from wooden pallets (and maybe in the
drink too) "treated" with some chemical. Given a symptom of hemolysis, and
the description of "an offensive odor on the outside bottom of the can" I
would suspect pentachlorophenol. I sure hope I'm wrong.

Jon

from http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/coke-europe.html
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The Associated Press reported that one person showed symptoms of hemolysis,
in which red blood cells are destroyed. 
A second problem arose Thursday, when people complained of nausea after
drinking cans of Coke products bought from vending machines. The cans
smelled bad on the outside, and people who opened them and drank the
contents became ill. "Everything inside the can was okay, but there was a
package-integrity issue," said a Coca-Cola spokesman, Rob Baskin. That
problem, with reports continuing as recently as Monday, was traced Tuesday
to wooden pallets used to ship the cans. 
The cans came from a plant in Dunkirk, France, but the problem pallets are
used only in Belgium, Baskin said. The wood had been treated with a
substance that transmitted what the company called "an offensive odor on the
outside bottom of the can." The complaints came from several places around
Belgium, including Korttrijk, a city in the southwest, Baskin said. Again,
the Coca-Cola statement said, "the product is safe." 
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