Brazil’s Agriculture Ministry said Wednesday that production at a Coca-Cola bottling plant in Ceara State has been suspended after a fault in the cooling system was found.
The plant is operated by Solar, a Brazilian soft drink company that produces beverages for Coca-Cola.
Authorities halted production after an on-site inspection showed that a liquid used in the cooling process came into contact with products being made. The liquid contains food-grade alcohol, which the ministry said does not pose a high health risk and does not include toxic substances.
Agriculture Minister Carlos Favaro said the affected products remain in the company’s inventory and have not reached stores. The ministry said production will stay paused until Solar makes the required changes and shows that the production process no longer carries risks. This could happen as soon as Wednesday.
Solar and Coca-Cola said in a joint statement they are running safety tests and plan to restart production once product safety is confirmed. They also said that all other operations are running normally.
The ministry said samples from 9 million liters of soft drinks are being analyzed in a lab, with results expected in five days.
