Sapporo Recalling 144,000 Bottles of Wine

By Kyodo News International, Tokyo

May 26–TOKYO — Sapporo Breweries Ltd. said Friday it is recalling some 144,000 bottles of red, white and rose wine in its Polaire series as they may contain broken pieces of glass.

The three brands affected are “Superior,”"Cabernet” and “Chardonnay” in 180-milliliter bottles, Sapporo said.

Of the 144,000 bottles produced at Sapporo’s Katsunuma Winery in Koshu, Yamanashi Prefecture, until Tuesday from August 2004, 120,000 have either already been consumed or are in the hands of consumers, leaving 24,000 bottles on the market.

An in-house inspection Wednesday found that after winery machinery was reassembled following a check in 2004, bottling equipment may have come into contact with the mouths of bottles, chipping them and causing the chips to drop into the bottles, Sapporo said, adding that it has received no complaints from customers yet.

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