11th July, 2017 by Annie Hayes

Bacardi-owned Scotch whisky business John Dewar & Sons is conducting a “thorough internal investigation” after human faeces was found in a control room at its Glasgow facility.

The company stressed that there has been no contamination of its products at the company’s warehousing, blending, bottling and packaging site in Glasgow.

“We are conducting a thorough internal investigation and intend to act quickly to get to the bottom of this disgusting act. This is unacceptable behaviour, and consequences will be swift,” David Cameron, HR Director for John Dewar & Sons Ltd, told The Spirits Business.

“Please be assured that John Dewar & Sons is committed to the quality for all of the products within its portfolio. We can assure the safety and quality of products in the facility as this abhorrent act did not impact the product in any way.

“The incident was contained to an office environment, specifically the control room, which is a secure, controlled access entry-only part in the building and was not operational during the suspected time of the incident. No production was happening during this time, so we are confident this was not intended as contamination, but rather an act of malicious personal misconduct.”

According to The Daily Record, the incident follows a separate investigation into reports of workers stealing miniatures and drinking on-shift.

Dewar’s has a zero-tolerance approach to “anything that could impact [employees] well-being or the sanctity of their work space,” Cameron added.

“Our policy on workplace drinking is simple: It is not acceptable. Anyone caught drinking on-premise is dismissed for gross misconduct. No alcohol consumption is permitted on-site at all.”

John Dewar & Sons employs 300 people at seven locations throughout Scotland. Its five distilleries are Aberfeldy in Perthshire; Aultmore in Keith; Craigellachie in Aberlour; Macduff in Macduff; and Royal Brackla near Nairn.