THUNDER BAY -- After a recall ordered by the Thunder Bay District Health Unit, Kakabeka Crystal officials say they hope to be back in business sometime next week.
Officials with the health unit advised the public not to drink Kakabeka Crystal water on Thursday because of evidence pointing to bacterial contamination.
Lowerys partner Scott Christie was shocked to learn the health unit had found some form of bacteria in the water.
“They haven’t isolated it yet, so we don’t know exactly what the bacteria is,” Christie said.
“All we know is that they found something, but it shows to be non harmful as there have been no illnesses reported.”
Christie said it was quite shocking, because the company takes all precautions to make sure the product is of quality and clean of any bacteria.
The health unit has been inspecting every aspect of the company’s operation including the well, transportation and the bottling facility.
“We actually did our own independent study this week at your own testing lab and our studies and analysis came back clean, so we are at a loss as to where the problem is happening,” Christie said.
“We are complying with the health unit, doing a voluntary recall and we are currently in the process of trying to swap out all of our customer’s current water.”
He said they’ve made arrangements with other water distributors to pull from their supplies in order to ensure Kakabeka Crystal customer’s needs are met.
So far, the bacteria have only been found in the larger bottles, but the company is doing a voluntary recall on everything to be safe.
Christie said they are hoping to be back in business next week as the health unit is doing some examinations, analysis and more inspections Friday and possibly Monday.
They will need a couple of days to conclude to ensure the final product is up to standards.
Christie said anything situation similar to this one “comes back and could bite you,” but they are doing everything they can for their clients.
“We are phoning our customers, complying with the health unit and we are as concerned as the health unit and everybody else,” Christie said.”
Christie added that the recalls affect everything shipped out in the last 30 days.
Kakabeka Crystal serves about 800 customers in the region.
