Dear All,
Don't know much about the soft drinks industry but I presume we are talking about some kind of chilling unit driven by a compressor using ammonia as a refrigerant ?? This chemical is of course perfect for self-announcing any leak, also highly soluble in water, damaged goods often show significant pH changes in cases of ammonia bursts.
Most engineering rooms using ammonia compressors hv some smell, goes with the trade IMEX. However this should not progress much further unless there are things like rusty pipes, fractures in pipe / joins / seals or similarly at the chilling point itself. Most significant leaks areimmediately self evident by nose-testing / hastily retreating workers

. The most frequent correction IMEX is new piping / welding.
Hopefully I haven't completely misunderstood the application.
Rgds / Charles.C