Armenian bottled water recalled

Thursday, March 08, 2007
The Plain Dealer
From wire reports

Some spring water imported from Armenia and sold under the name "Jermuk" contains as much as 60 times the legal limit of arsenic and shouldn't be consumed, the Food and Drug Administration said.

No illnesses have been reported, but the FDA found arsenic levels of 500 to 600 micrograms per liter, compared with a legal limit of 10 micrograms per liter in bottled water, the agency said in a statement. Arsenic is known to cause cancer in humans. Symptoms of acute arsenic exposure include nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. The kidneys, liver, skin and cardiovascular and nervous systems could be affected over a period of a few days to weeks.

The recall comes after the FDA sampled 500-milliliter green glass bottles of water and detected arsenic. The products were distributed nationwide and include the following:

Zetlian Bakery Inc. of Pico Rivera, Calif., is recalling the product with labels that read: "Jermuk Original Sparkling Natural Mineral Water Fortified With Natural Gas From the Spring." The product is also labeled as "2006 Jermuk Mayr Gortsaran CJSC" and "Imported by: Zetlian Bakery Inc."

Importers Direct Wholesale Co. of Los Angeles is recalling the product with labels that read: "Jermuk Sodium Calcium Bicarbonate and Sulphate Mineral Water." The product is also labeled as "Bottled by ARPI Plant, Republic of Armenia" and "Exclusive US importer and distributor: Importers Direct Wholesale Co., Los Angeles, CA."

Kradjian Importing Co. of Glendale, Calif., is recalling the product with labels that read: "Jermuk, Natural Mineral Water Sparkling."

The product is also labeled as "Bottled by Jermuk Group CJSC" and "Sale Agent Kradjian Importing Co. Inc."

The FDA is investigating whether other sizes or packaging are involved.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.