Fireball spokesman: Antifreeze ingredient used in cinnamon whiskey that led to recall is 'safe'

You may not have thought Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey tasted "like heaven" if you knew it contained an ingredient that can be found in antifreeze.

Yet Americans have been drinking it -- questionable ingredient included -- all along.

Europe, however, has higher standards.

Bottles of the cinnamon crowd pleaser are being recalled in Finland, Sweden and Norway because of an ingredient that violates European regulations.

The maker of Fireball has two formulas: one for Canada and the United States, which contains the chemical and a European one that includes slightly less of the chemical.

That ingredient is propylene glycol.

Amy Preske, spokeswoman for Sazerac Co., a New Orleans company that owns Fireball, said the ingredient is used in the Fireball flavor in small quantities -- less than one-eighth of the amount allowed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The ingredient is "generally recognized as safe" by the FDA, Presek told Newsday.

But the substance, which is used to make polyester compounds and as an antifreeze, doesn't sound appetizing.

It's also "used to create artificial smoke or fog used in firefighting training and in theatrical productions," according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

Fireball is not being recalled in the United States.

"All Fireball formulas are absolutely safe to drink," Preseke said. "The use of [propylene glycol] in Fireball creates no health risks whatsoever."