Savlon in poison scare
Thursday, 30 Aug 2007 13:09
Savlon has been pulled from shelves in high street stores
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Leading high street stores have withdrawn thousands of bottles of Savlon from their shelves after animal rights extremists claimed to have "tampered" with the antiseptic product.
Boots, Superdrug and supermarket chain Tesco are reported to be among the retailers that have removed the product from sale after a group calling itself the Animal Rights Militia said it had tampered with more than 250 tubes and bottles of Savlon across stores in the UK.
In an internet posting the militant group suggested it had targeted Savlon because its Swiss-based manufacturer, Novartis, is believed to be a client of controversial animal testing laboratory Huntingdon Life Sciences.
The group did not reveal how it had tampered with the products, but according to reports its members recently claimed to have injected bleach into similar products in France.
In a statement Novartis said that it had not found any evidence that Savlon had been tampered with, but said that the product had been removed from sale as a "precautionary measure".
The company added that the alleged action appears to be part of a "long-running" campaign by animal rights extremists, which "adversely affects" the firm and its consumers.
"Novartis UK has been made aware of an anonymous threat made on a website, alleging that one of our products, Savlon, has been tampered with," Novartis said.
"The company takes this matter very seriously and is in close contact with the police, retailers and health authorities.
"The safety of consumers is the company's primary concern and Novartis will continue to take steps to ensure that safety is not compromised," the company added.