Victoria’s Apollo Bay Distillery has recalled its SS Casino Dry Gin as a number of the 700ml bottles were filled with hand sanitiser. The liquor company said the recall affects nine bottles sold from June 5-7 2020.
The bottles were sold at Great Ocean Road Brewhouse in Victoria, according to a statement from Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ).
The food safety group said that the product was recalled as it was labelled as gin, but does not contain gin. FSANZ said the product had non-compliant labelling and did not have a shrink wrap seal.
The bottles contain 1.45 per cent glycerol and 0.125 per cent hydrogen peroxide, which may cause illness when consumed. FSANZ advised consumers not to drink it as it may result in harmful side effects such as nausea, headaches, dizziness, bloating, vomiting, thirst and diarrhea.
The company told Inside FMCG on Wednesday afternoon that all of the affected products have now been recovered.
“We can now confirm we have recovered all incorrectly labelled bottles from the product safety recall we issued on Monday 8 June. We are very sorry this occurred. Rest assured we will be following up our procedures to ensure this does not occur again,” an Apollo Bay Distillery spokesperson said.
“We’d like to thank those who were affected for being so understanding. We are in the process of fully refunding and providing a replacement product to those impacted. Thank you to everyone who shared the recall, and the media for publicising it, as this enabled us to recover the products quickly.”
The company had addressed the recall on its Facebook page and called on consumers to return the bottles for a full refund.
“The bottles were incorrectly labeled and had no seal. We understand they are not toxic. Should You have purchased a bottle of SS Casino Gin between Friday 5 June to Sunday 7 June please return it to where you purchased it from for a full refund or replacement,” the company wrote in a post on Monday.
Many alcohol brands began producing hand sanitiser during the COVID-19 outbreak due to a shortage of the product.
