Coca-cola: contaminated?

The firm's denial comes after the US Department of Justice launched a criminal investigation into a series of allegations made by Matthew Whitley, a former employee at the soft drinks maker who was made redundant in March.

Prosecutors will also try to establish whether the world's largest soft drinks maker used deceptive marketing and manipulated its accounts.

Coca-Cola has vowed to fight Mr Whitley, strongly denying most of his allegations and saying he became disgruntled after losing his job.

Wide-reaching consequences

In a statement, the firm said: "We view the filing of this amended complaint as an irresponsible and further attempt to extract an outrageous sum from the shareowners of The Coca-Cola Company.

"We will defend ourselves vigorously."

I think most people think this is an isolated event Caroline Levy, UBS Warburg

Coca-Cola was at the centre of a contaminated drinks scare in Europe in 1999 that had wide-reaching consequences.

The investigation into Coke's finances comes after US firms have been forced to swear before the regulator that their accounts are accurate.

Mr Whitley has also filed a $44.4m lawsuit against the firm for wrongful dismissal.

His suit alleges that Coke managers knew that drinks machines were allowing metal residue to contaminate some products when they were frozen.

Mr Whitley claims more than 80,000 drinks machines are defective.

But Coke has said it has conducted its own tests on the drinks machines and found no metal residue and no evidence of health risks to consumers.

Suppliers of frozen drinks machines have told Coke there had been a few cases of metal residue in dispensers in recent years, the company said.

But a toxicology study found there was no health risk to consumers.

Tiny amounts of metal found in frozen drinks machines were similar to those found in food cooked in cast iron or stainless steel pans, according to independent lab tests, and posed no health risk, the firm added.

Shares down

The criminal probe comes from the US Attorney's Office in the Northern District of Georgia.

The firm has said it will cooperate with the federal enquiry.

Investors showed little interest in the investigation on Friday.

Caroline Levy, an analyst at UBS Warburg, "I think most people think this is an isolated event.

"If it turns out to be something more serious than we currently know about, that's different."

Coke shares dipped 10 cents to close at $43.91 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The company's main rival, PepsiCo Inc, rose 47 cents, or 1%, to close at $47.42.