NZ: GSK hit by further Ribena vitamin C damage
By just-drinks.com editorial team | 27 March 2007
GlaxoSmithKline has followed last week's Australia vitamin C scandal with fines in New Zealand.
The company has been fined NZ$227,500 (US$316,000) in New Zealand for breaching fair trading laws regarding the vitamin C content of its pre-mixed Ribena. Last week , GSK "self-reported" discrepancies in its claims about vitamin C content in Ribena on sale in Australia.
GlaxoSmithKline admitted to the court in New Zealand that its Ribena did not contain any vitamin C, despite claims that it contained seven milligrams of the vitamin per 100 millilitres. The issue came to light when two New Zealand schoolgirls conducted experiments on the drink and discovered the lack of vitamin C. The two girls told local press that their claims to the company were initially ignored.
"The fact that some of our products had incorrect labelling is to us, unacceptable, and we sincerely regret any confusion caused to customers who feel they may have been misled," the company said today in a statement.
No-one was available for further comment at GlaxoSmithKline when contacted by just-drinks today (27 March).
Sectors: Soft drinks, Water
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Just the Answer - GlaxoSmithKline
In the wake of a scandal in Australia and New Zealand where GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) was fined for misrepresenting the Vitamin C level of its Ribena brand, Graham Neale, general manager at Nutritional Healthcare UK, the GSK subsidiary that produces Lucozade, Ribena and Horlicks, takes the opportunity of this month’s Just the Answer interview to put his company’s side of the story and outline future plans for both Ribena and Lucozade.
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