
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 17, 1993                   TAG: 9306170080
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MICHAEL CSOLLANY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

FEW GROCERS REPORT REDUCED PEPSI SALES

Despite reports that people in more than 20 states, including Virginia and West Virginia, have found syringes and needles in Pepsi-Cola product cans, Roanoke Valley distributors and grocers said they had no intentions of pulling Pepsi from their shelves.

Most small grocers said the news has not affected sales and think it probably won't.

Local distributors and bottlers of Pepsi are not under any contractual obligation to sell the soft drinks, according to Pepsi-Cola Co. spokesman Andrew Giangola in Somers, N.Y.

"Our local bottlers and distributors are allowed to make those decisions, but there is no indication that they'd want to . . . Our bottlers are completely 1,000 percent behind us," Giangola said.

"There have been no injuries reported, and there is no health risk to consumers. The FDA has not suggested a recall."

Pepsi is bottled locally by the Pepsi-Cola Bottlers of Roanoke. Spokesman Al Wilmer said the Hollins-based operation will continue to fill and distribute the cans.

Wilmer also said there have been no local problems reported.

Large supermarket chains have kept Pepsi on their shelves because the Food and Drug Administration has not suggested a product recall. "We're following the lead of the FDA . . . They're saying to keep the Pepsi on the shelves. Until we hear otherwise, we'll continue to offer Pepsi," said Mike Mozingo, a spokesman for the Food Lion chain.

Kroger Co. spokeswoman Joann Boone concurred: "Our policy is that we go by government standards on recalls. If the government considers a situation serious enough to remove a product from the shelves, then we follow these standards."

But, "it's far too early to determine if sales have been affected," she said.

Grocers in more than two dozen small stores reported soft drink sales have not changed in the past week.

"Sales have been about the same to me as far as our Pepsi products go," said Drema Merson of Fast Break Food Mart in Salem.

Vernon Stover, an employee of Ninth Street Grocery in Roanoke, also reported business as usual. He is not pleased by the reports, though, and disregards them.

Stover said, "The first time it happened, it's understandable. But after that, people are just copying, trying to make some money out of it."

Sales for at least one local food store have slumped, though.

According to Get N' Go employee Shirley Dunbar, customers have spoken about the alleged contaminations and have acted on their fears when purchasing soft drinks.

"I know how much Pepsi I usually order," she said. "And it's been in the last week that sales have dropped off."

Customers were talking at Catawba Grocery, but employee Vickie Smith would "tell them they're crazy" and then take a slug of her Pepsi.

"They'll sit there and talk about it, but if they really want it, they get it," Smith said.

by CNB