UK stockists of Fireball liqueur with cinnamon and whiskey are being asked to remove the product from sale and prepare it for return.
The withdrawal follows confirmation that batches of the US formulation of Fireball were mistakenly shipped to the European bottler. While it complies with regulations in the US, Canada, Australia and other markets, the recipe contains higher levels of propylene glycol (PG) than is permitted within the European Union.
UK distributor Hi-Spirits is overseeing the withdrawal on behalf of Fireball brand owner Sazerac. Initially, stockists are being asked to set aside all bottles for collection and return. Hi-Spirits will send out a form for stockists to complete to advise how many cases of Fireball they have in stock and where they can be collected from.
Jeremy Hill, chairman of Hi-Spirits, said: “On behalf of Sazerac, we sincerely apologise to all Fireball stockists and their customers. We have been working for the past few days with a public analyst and the Food Standards Agency to ascertain which recipe had been shipped to the UK market, and regretfully, we have now been informed that a withdrawal is necessary.
“We deeply regret the inconvenience to our customers, particularly as we approach the busiest time of year for spirit sales, and we are committed to making sure the collection process, and in due course replacement with new stock, is undertaken efficiently and with the minimum of disruption.”
