Police said on Monday that a 63-year-old man was arrested for allegedly placing bottles of soft drinks possibly contaminated with urine in multiple supermarkets.

The force received reports in the past year that six Coca-Cola Plus bottles and a 7UP bottle sold in supermarkets located in Sham Shui Po, Mong Kok and Wan Chai were suspected to be contaminated.

In one of the cases, a nine-year-old boy felt unwell after consuming one of the drinks.

Chief Inspector Alex Yau said officers arrested the suspect after raiding his home in Sham Shui Po last Saturday, and found items related to the case, including the outfit, backpack and shoes that the man wore when he was allegedly committing the crime.

"We believe [the suspect committed the offence due to] the stigma from previous grudges between the suspect and the staff at the supermarket. So, he did this as a retaliation against the supermarket, not the particular product," he said.

"We are seeing this as a retaliation against the shops involved."

The arrestee will be taken to Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts on Tuesday for allegedly administering a noxious substance with intent to injure, aggrieve, or annoy another person.

Yau said preliminary test results showed that the drinks may have contained urine, but they did not contain poison.

He said that the incident is an "extremely serious" offence, as it not only involves public health, but it also affects people's confidence in food safety.

Yau also reminded the public to be more vigilant when purchasing products.

"Look for signs whether that product has been tampered with, whether the seal has been broken off, whether it's been opened, whether [it has a] strong, weird smell... that kind of thing. You will always see signs when a particular item has been tampered with."

Swire Coca-Cola said the incident involved its 500mL Coca-Cola Plus bottles.

The firm said product safety and quality have always been its top priorities.

It added that it has fully cooperated with the government throughout the investigation and acted strictly according to the guidelines.

ParknShop and Wellcome said they have removed 500mL Coca-Cola Plus and 7UP bottles from the shelves as a precautionary measure.
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Last updated: 2025-08-11 HKT 21:34