Victorian distiller Apollo Bay Distillery has recalled nine of its gin products, discovering they had been filled with hand sanitiser due to incorrect labelling.
The SS Casino Gins sold between 5 and 7 June at the Great Ocean Road Brewhouse were not correctly sealed and did not have a shrink label seal on pack.
The bottles contain 1.45 per cent glycerol and 0.125 per cent hydrogen peroxide, commonly used to make hand sanitiser.
Apollo Bay Distillery released a statement on its Facebook page, which said the products are non-toxic, but consumption of the product “may have side effects including nausea, headaches, dizziness, bloating, vomiting, thirst, and diarrhea”.
On 10 June, a spokesperson from Apollo Bay Distillery told PKN it had recovered all incorrectly labelled bottles from the product safety recall 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," the 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."
Several distilleries, large and small, developed their own hand sanitiser to meet shortages during the Covid-19 pandemic.
