Snapple, the American brand of fruit juice and tea drinks, has been withdrawn from sale in Qatar for breaking the country’s food law, the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning (Baladiya) has announced on Twitter.
Baladiya has not given details about the nature of the violation, but simply states that Snapple samples recently tested by the Central Food Laboratory at the Supreme Council of Health (SCH) failed to meet required standards.
It’s not known which varieties of Snapple were tested, and it’s not clear whether the withdrawal is a temporary or permanent measure.
تحذير #قطر #البلدية_قطر pic.twitter.com/duBo5KgfOu— البلدية والتخطيط (@albaladiya) May 1, 2014
The drink had previously been sold in several major supermarkets across Doha, but when reached by telephone this afternoon, one of them, Megamart, confirmed that the drink was no longer on sale there.
Whilst it remains unclear what test Snapple has failed in Qatar, it’s interesting to note that two varieties of the drink were removed from shelves in the UAE last year because they contained very small amounts of alcohol.
The brand’s “fruit punch mixed fruit drink” and “peach flavored tea” were found by UAE authorities to contain 0.48 per cent and 0.05 per cent of alcohol respectively – both above the 0.03 per cent limit allowable in the country.
The Dr Pepper group, makers of Snapple, have not yet responded to a request for comment.
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