Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - If you’ve ever been tempted by petanque, a French boules, or balls, game popular in parts of France and southern European countries, carefully check the ones in your cupboard: the Swiss federal government has issued a recall and warning about balls manufactured by Dutch company Nebus BV that have been distributed by Coop Supercard (part of a 2003 offer) and TCS (Touring Club Suisse), which has sent them to new members. The balls can explode when touched.
Do not touch them or take them out of your cupboard or attempt to return them to Coop or TCS. Call the hotline +41 32 321 7111 for information on how to have them picked up at your home.
The balls come in a black holder and are labeled “JEU DE BOULES” and “PÉTANQUE”. Also on the holder is this information: E.H., P.O. Box 4059, 5004 JB Tilburg (NL).
The problem is due to corrosive action on the sand in a dip in the balls, which puts great pressure on them and there is a risk they will be torn in two when touched, but also that the the rip will be violent. Ed. note: the balls are not sand-filled but must be hollow to conform to petanque standards.
Coop and TCS are contacting those who have received the petanque balls to alert them.
This work by genevalunch.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported.
News story, GenevaLunch, 10 July 2009.
Filed under: Society
Tags: balls, Coop, danger, exploding, petanque, recall, Swiss news, TCS