When is a recall not a recall? When it doesn’t involve a safety issue.
That’s the spin Molson Coors is putting on the recall of some cans of Coors Light and Keystone Light. Following posting of some videos on social media purportedly showing “slime” being poured from Coors Light and Keystone Light cans, Molson Coors chose to voluntarily withdraw those packs from the market. “While we have chosen to voluntaril withdraw those packs, there are no food health risks associated with the product,” a spokesman said, adding:
“The issue was with one can line that exclusively produces 12-ounce tall cans. It impacted only a small percentage of cans produced on the line and has since been resolved.” The recall product was produced at the Trenton (Ohio) brewery.
A spokesperson told Food & Wine the recall wasn’t a recall because the beers don’t pose any safety threats.
Comment: Molson Coors stumbled on this one. Alan Simpson, the former Wyoming senator, used to say a charge unanswered is a charge admitted. Molson Coors didn’t answer the charges here. Was it “slime” that poured from cans? We’re sure Molson Coors has tested some product, otherwise how could it say no food safety issue was involved? It would have done itself a favor to put out a press release that emphasized how rare it is for any major brewer to have a consistency problem. It should have said it did the test, and that’s how it knew there wasn’t a safety issue. And if the viscosity of the liquid wasn’t equal to “slime,” it should have said so.
There’s a temptation to believe that if one ignores bad news, it won’t gain traction. What usually happens instead is that a one-day story becomes a multi-day story.
Molson Coors Beverages Co. closed at $51.36, up 1.44% in New York Stock Exchange trading Tuesday.