The Ivan Vucetic Forensic Science Centre in Zagreb has found that the non-alcoholic beverage consumed by a 19-year-old man in the port city of Rijeka last Saturday contained a cleansing or degreasing agent, the Ministry of the Interior said on Thursday.

The results of the forensic examination of the liquid taken from the glass from which the man was drinking when he fell ill show that the physical and chemical properties of the examined liquid correspond to the liquid from the bottle of the soft drink, and the analysis also found it to be a highly alkaline solution (pH=13,6), the ministry said in a press release.

The chemical compounds identified in the liquid indicate that it was a cleansing or degreasing agent.

Twenty bottles of the same beverage, which were included in the original package, were found to contain the beverage safe for consumption, and the pH values measured were in the standard range for this beverage.

As for the case reported in Zagreb on 7 November,  the bottle of the beverage concerned had the standard pH value usual for that soft drink and no unusual compounds were detected.

The sanitary inspection of the State Inspectorate received from the Croatian Institute of Public Health a test report on the samples of the Coca Cola drinks taken from a vending machine and from a retail store in Zagreb, and they are considered safe.

Apart from the Coca Cola beverages in question, an examination of a sample of Romerquelle Emotion beverage taken from the Rijeka restuarant where the man fell ill found on Wednesday that it was safe for consumption.