Brown-Forman, the owner of Jack Daniel's Distillery, will challenge accusations by Russia's consumer protection watchdog that the famous U.S. whiskey violated quality control and marketing standards and must be swept from stores, newspaper Izvestia reported Wednesday.
Amid Russia's ongoing clash with the West over Ukraine and its campaign against Western-made products, the Sverdlovsk branch of Russia's state food safety watchdog — notorious for unveiling violations in goods from countries out of favor with Moscow — found "chemical substances not common to whiskey" in certain Jack Daniel's products last week.
Alexander Gorelin, Brown-Forman's Russian marketing chief, told Izvestia that Brown-Forman plans on contesting these findings, and doesn't expect the products to be pulled form the shelves in regions outside of Sverdlovsk in the Ural mountains — where the allegations originated.
Gorelin said the company will send the agency a letter in the coming days.
See also:
Russian Inspectors Find 'Chemicals' in Jack Daniel's Whiskey
'Tainted' Jack Daniel's Whiskey Could Disappear From Sverdlovsk Region Stores
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