'Fireball Whisky' Yanked Over Antifreeze Ingredient

Not to worry: Offending ingredient is deemed safe enough in US
By Elizabeth Armstrong Moore,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 30, 2014 8:08 AM CDT
'Fireball Whisky' Yanked Over Antifreeze Ingredient
Fireball says its whisky is safe to drink.   (Facebook/Fireball)

Fireball Cinnamon Whisky is red-hot in the US and gaining traction abroad, becoming especially big at frat parties and recently declared the "most popular shot for college students," reports the Daily Beast. But a batch of the whisky that "Tastes like Heaven, Burns like Hell" has just been recalled in Finland, Sweden, and Norway. The problem? Apparently Europe has different standards for how much propylene glycol—an ingredient found in antifreeze—is safe for human consumption. As Tim Mak notes, "In your Prestone Low-Tox, it's an antifreeze. In Fireball, it's used as a sweetener."

To satisfy the different regulations, Fireball makes one formula for the US and one for Europe with lower levels of propylene glycol. Recently, Fireball reports, it mistakenly shipped its US formula to Europe, so the drink was recalled. Fireball stands behind its recipe, noting that it contains less than one-eighth the amount of propylene glycol allowed by the US Food and Drug Administration. "The use of [propylene glycol] in Fireball creates no health risks whatsoever," a spokesperson tells Newsday. (Meanwhile, booze is seriously toxic in this country where it's banned.)

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