Health officials have warned American tourists in Mexico to be careful after bottles of 7-Up were found to contain methamphetamines.
A press release from the medical nonprofit organization Banner Health stated that the bottles of soda containing the drug were drunk in Mexicali. An investigation is going on to determine how the narcotic got into the 7-Up bottles, Newsweek reports.
The spiked soft drinks caused the death of one person, while seven people fell sick, according to the Attorney General of Justice of Baja, California. Health authorities said that the soda bottles have been taken off shelves.
Mexicali is south of the border between California and Mexico, some 124 miles away from San Diego.
The Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, which distributes 7-Up in the United States, assured Americans that no 7-Up bottles sold in the country were affected by the same issue. In addition, the company clarified that it does not market, sell or distribute the brand in other countries, as PepsiCo owns and licenses the soda trademark globally.
Dr. Daniel Brooks at Banner Health said that anyone traveling to Mexico should be careful when consuming food and drinks to prevent untoward incidents. He said,
It is important to check that the seal for any food and drink consumed is still intact and shows no signs of tampering.
Banner Health released a checklist of symptoms for those who are worried that they might have consumed the contaminated beverage. These include irritation in the mouth and throat, a burning sensation to the abdomen or esophagus, nausea or vomiting, difficulty breathing and fast or irregular heartbeat. Symptoms may manifest suddenly and drinking 7-Up can be dangerous to anyone’s health.
This case follows a US State Department notice in July, which warned Americans about counterfeit alcohol being sold in Mexico. A woman in Wisconsin who died at a Mexican resort in January was associated with counterfeit alcohol.
