A Chinese specialist laboratory says it has finished the test of the metal packaging of a canned Sprite soft drink which is alleged to have led to the mercury poisoning to a man in Beijing.
The laboratory will report the results to its client, the police bureau of Xicheng District in Beijing, before this year's Spring Festival that falls on February 14th.
The Tianjin-based China Packaging Research & Test Center (CPRTC) conducted the test on Thursday, to analyze the inner coating, hermeticity and exterior appearance of three containers, one of which Ma Sai consumed last November 7th, the other two are from the same batch of Coca Cola products, according to Beijing Times.
Police officers, Ma's family and representatives from Coca-Cola, also attended the test.
The test results will determine whether or not the mercury was "injected into the container," the report says. But Ma Sai's mother insisted that Coca-Cola should take responsibility whatever the result proves.
She told reporters that the mercury has not completely left the body so far although Ma has been out of the hospital for more than a month.
In a separate case under investigation, a 13-year-old Beijing student was hospitalized for mercury poisoning after drinking Sprite on January 17th.
Local authorities have tested the beverage from the same batch, finding no mercury substance.
Police Investigation showed that the boy broke a clinical thermometer before taking the drink, indicating that the boy was possibly poisoned by the spillage. The family said they also want to go to Tianjin to test the can.
Another case related to Sprite was just settled recently in suburban Beijing as a man was compensated with a mere 5.1 yuan in damages after finding a three-centimeter bug in an unopened bottle of Sprite which he bought in June 2007.
中國一家專業實驗室稱已完成了對罐裝雪碧金屬包裝材料的檢測,這種飲料被指控導致北京一名男子發生汞中毒。
該實驗室將于今年二月十四日到來的春節之前向其委托者--北京西城區警察局報告檢測結果。
據京華時報報道,檢測是由位于天津的中國包裝材料研究測試中心于星期二進行的,檢測中對三個罐的內涂層、氣密性極外觀進行了分析,其中一個罐是馬賽于去年十一月七日消費的,其余兩個取自同一批可口可樂產品。
警務人員,馬賽的家人及可口可樂公司代表也參與了檢測。
報道說,檢測結果將決定水銀是不是被注進容器的。但馬賽的母親堅稱無論結果如何,可口可樂公司都應當擔負責任。
她對記者說,雖然馬賽已出院一個多月,但到目前為止,汞還沒有完全從體內排除。
另一起正在調查的案件中,一名13歲的北京學生于一月十七日喝雪碧之后因汞中毒住院。
地方當局已對同一批飲料進行了檢測,沒有發現汞。
警方調查表明這名男孩是因水銀外泄而中毒的。其家人說,他們也要到天津去對包裝罐進行檢測。
另一起涉及雪碧的事件最近在北京郊區剛剛解決,一名男子在其2007年七月購買的未開啟的雪碧瓶中發現了一條3厘米的蟲子,結果只得到5.1元的損失補償。