Overpress defect prompted recall

Recalled: Some bottles may contain glass shards

Recall was a 'precautionary measure'

A Stella Artois recall issued by Inbev UK was caused by an overpress defect that may have left glass shards in bottles.

The defect, which InBev attributed to one of its suppliers, resulted in a small ridge of glass on the inside rim of the bottles that can break off if knocked, leaving undetectable fragments of glass in the beverage.

InBev UK issued the recall on December 1 after shards were found in a 'small number' of 250ml Stella Artois bottles on a single run, which had been sold in ten-packs in British supermarkets.

An InBev spokeswoman said: ‘This is an unusual and unpredictable defect which affects a small number of bottles and is difficult to detect. We therefore took the precautionary measure of recalling all potentially affected bottles.’

Bottles with the batch codes L0219MZ, L0272MZ, L0288MY, L0308MY, L0309MY and L0309MZ could contain glass fragments and no other products are affected. Consumers have been asked to return them to the store in which they bought them and offered a full refund.

Last month InBev UK recalled a batch of Budweiser bottles sold in 15-packs after some were found to contain glass fragments.