Northcote shop owner takes on might of Coca-Cola

An Auckland man is taking on soft drink giant Coca-Cola Amatil after he was struck in the eye by an exploding fruit juice bottle.

Ming Fu Hu, who runs a drink bar in Northcote, was injured in the eye by an exploding bottle of Keri orange juice, which had fermented, on May 21.

Mr Hu told NZPA still could not see very well and would probably not recover his full vision. The injury had cost him about $5000 and the Accident Compensation Corporation had only covered part of the cost of treatment.

Coca-Cola confirmed to him the 2.4 litre bottle of Keri juice was fermented. As a gesture of goodwill it offered him a case of Keri orange juice and grocery vouchers to the value of $200.

However, in a subsequent letter Coca-Cola's lawyers said the company had no liability to Mr Hu, there was no issue of public safety arising from these circumstances and "CCA now considers this matter at an end".

Mr Hu's family lawyer, Richard Zhao, said the public should be aware of the dangers of exploding bottles and what thus far appeared to be Coca-Cola's "unfortunate corporate stance".

"My client is a Chinese immigrant and if the same thing happened to a Kiwi in China we would expect the Chinese company to step up to the plate, admit its mistake and help make the victim whole again."

Another lawyer, Frank Deliu, said Mr Hu was exploring all legal options, including filing civil actions against Coca-Cola that were not barred by ACC legislation.

"It is not acceptable that Coca-Cola's attitude is that it can remedy the problem by offering this man more of the very same product that injured him."

Coca-Cola corporate affairs manager Aimee Driscoll said the juice bottle that injured Mr Hu was well within its use-by date but had fermented. All control samples of the same product batch were in perfect condition.

There was no issue of public safety as exploding juice bottles were very rare. It was the first time it had happened in her five years with the company, she said.

Mr Hu still had an open claim with ACC and Coca-Cola had not had a formal legal approach from Mr Hu or his lawyer, she said.

"We would expect any reputable law firm to engage due process before contacting the media. We welcome contact from Amicus Barristers' Chambers on this matter," Ms Driscoll said.

"As a responsible company we take all consumer complaints seriously and investigate them thoroughly."

- NZPA