Authorities: Bottles of Bombay Sapphire gin sold in Canada 'not safe for consumption'

(Image credit: Rob Kim/Getty Images)

last updated 4 May 2017

Bottles of Bombay Sapphire gin are being pulled from shelves in Canada after provincial authorities issued a recall of the popular spirit.

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario's quality assurance team found that a batch of the gin had an alcohol content of 77 percent, rather than the 40 percent listed on the 1.14 liter bottle, The Guardian reports. "This product is not safe for consumption," the Liquor Control Board of Ontario said in its recall statement. "Consuming a product with an alcohol content of 77 percent could cause serious illness." After Ontario issued a recall, so did Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said that so far, there have been no reports of anyone becoming ill from drinking the affected gin. Bacardi Canada manages the import and distribution of Bombay Sapphire in the country, and said it believes that the bottles filled with high alcohol content gin were only sold in Canada. In March, Ontario issued a recall of Toronto-made Georgian Bay vodka, after it was found that 650 bottles were not properly diluted and contained 81 percent alcohol, not the 40 percent on the label.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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