SA’s Prancing Pony Brewery is conducting a recall of a batch of its Dizzy Donkey Cloudy Apple Cider.

Prancing Pony said it was a precautionary measure due to suspected overcarbonation of the product, most likely caused by secondary fermentation after canning.

The affected product has been available for sale in South Australia and Prancing Pony has notified the relevant authorities. No other Prancing Pony product is affected by the recall.

The brewery urged customers to contact the it as soon as possible for a full refund or replacement. Prancing Pony advised that all cans should be handled carefully, in particular if the cans display bulging as the can may rupture.

“Some cider cans showed over-carbonation and while we don’t know the cause, we suspect that there is some post canning fermentation process that occurred that was not detected by our usually QC measures before release,” according to Prancing Pony in a statement to Brews News.

“There is potential of an increase in alcohol at higher levels than stated on the can. The over-carbonation can lead to bulging of the cans and subsequent rupture thus, we considered this a risk that needed to be addressed.

“We keep very good records and we have established that there is very little product left with consumers and the trade in SA but we believe that a recall was the only and correct response.

“As a producer, we have an absolute duty of care to our customers, both in the trade and in retail and following our quality paraments and company philosophy, we have taken full responsibility and initiated the product recall process.”

The team explained they were working with analysts at the Australian Wine Research Institute to identify what caused the over-carbonation.

“Our advice to other breweries or producers is to be aware that even with stringent QC measures in place, we are dealing with a product that is natural product and is alive,” Prancing Pony continued.

“At all times we have a duty of care to customers and consumers. We had a Food Recall Plan in place and we could implement and follow protocol swiftly.

“We established this plan a while ago and while we all think and hope that we will not have to act on this, my advice is to be ready.

“Our good record keeping has assisted to identify where the product is located and how much. Thus we were able to provide these details to the SA Health Authorities and FSANZ quickly.
“They have been extremely helpful in this process and I would advise every brewery to be familiar with a product withdrawal or recall process and who to contact to get guidance when something goes wrong.

“As a brewery that prides itself on the quality of our products, we like to assure our customers that this incident is taken most seriously by us and we apologise to customers and consumers for the inconvenience that this has caused.

“We encourage anybody that needs more information to contact us on info@prancingponybrewery.com.au or to call the brewery on 08-8398 3881.”