A food colouring leak in a port in Japan left a flowing river blood red in colour, pictures of which have surfaced on the internet.
The river in Nago City, Japan’s Okinawa, was seen turning into a deep crimson colour, alarming locals and visitors.
According to a BBC report, the leak reportedly started in one of the cooling systems of the brewery which likely occurred on Tuesday. It was stopped at around 9.30 am local time, according to Japanese media reports.
Orion Breweries, a brewery, later apologised for “causing enormous trouble and worry” in a statement. They said a food colouring dye that had leaked into a river had caused the port to turn colour, adding that it posed no health risks.
Commonly used in drug and cosmetic industries, it is “generally recognised as safe”, the US Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry has said, as per an Independent report. The chemical is used as a food additive by factories in the cooling process.
“We believe it was caused by the leakage of propylene glycol – a food additive listed in enforcement regulations of the Food Sanitation Act – contained in cooling water used to cool our factory facilities. We believe the leaked cooling water flowed into a river through a rain gutter, causing the sea to turn red,” Orion Breweries said.
President of the Japanese beer company, Hajime Murano, said they have been conducting an investigation into how the leak occurred. He also added that they would take measures to prevent such an incident from happening again.