Japan bottled water recalled due to smell

TOKYO, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Japan's Otsuka Beverage Co. says it is recalling an estimated 8 million bottles of its Crystal Geyser brand mineral water after complaints of strange smells.

The 17-ounce bottles of mineral water were imported from the United States and were among a total of 47 million such Crystal Geyser bottles received by Otsuka, the Japanese news agency Kyodo reported Monday.

"Our findings show the product is safe and will do no harm to people's health but we have decided to recall it in order to dispel consumer anxiety," a company official told Kyodo.

Eligible for the recall are bottles with the consume-by dates of June 1, 2010, through Aug. 19 of the same year. Otsuka said it received complaints mainly about water sold in September and October, with buyers noticing a smell resembling medicine or pesticide as soon as they opened the bottles.

Company officials told Kyodo the smell might have rubbed off on the bottles while they were being stored over summer.