Food poisoning with Coke In June 1999, Coca-cola was withdrawn in several countries along with all its other soft drinks after about 100 people fell ill in Europe after drinking its products. The cause of the sickness was bad quality carbonic acid used in a Belgian factory and fungicide used to treat wooden pellets in a French factory. The company admitted responsibility, and as big corporations are wont to do, set their PR firms to work to repair their damaged reputation. 3. Chemicals in bottled water This is perhaps the most common occurrence of chemical mixes, and it happened to mineral water icon Perrier in February 1990. 160 million water bottles were pulled off shelves throughout the world after tests showed the presence of Benzene in some bottles in the United States and Britain. The company said human error was to blame, and by the time Perrier returned to supermarket stores, their market share had taken an irrevocable hit. 4.