For the next few weeks, Fireball—the cinnamon whiskey beloved by those who know there’s a good chance they’ll be tasting it again later—is going to be scarce in Scandinavia. A shipment of the stuffmeant for North American distribution was accidentally sent to Fireball’s European bottlers. Now stores in Finland, Sweden, and Norway are recalling the product because, by EU standards, it contains too much propylene glycol—a flavoring ingredient that is also used in anti-freeze.
The Daily Beast reports that Fireball makes two versions of it’s sweetened liquor, one for North America that has less than 6.25 grams of the chemical per kilo, and a European formula that has less than 1 gram per kilo. According to the FDA, up to 50 grams per kilo is “generally recognized as safe” for food products, but clearly opinions differ on either side of the pond.
A Fireball fan. (Photo: Facebook/ Fireball Whisky)
Guess stateside regulators figured that if you’re willing to do shots of this frathouse favorite, then a little extra propylene glycol really isn’t the main problem here. Fireball has played down the recall, issuing an online statement that says in part:
With sales of more than $61 million last year, according to the Daily Beast, guess they’re not sweating the small compliance stuff.
[via The Spirits Business]