IT was the two multinational cola giants — Coca-Cola and Pepsi — who were in the environmentalists' dock today, with the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) uncorking its study that revealed a `cocktail of pesticide residues' in soft drink brands belonging to the two global majors.
And though these two companies operate within the food laws prevalent in India, CSE alleged that they exercised "double standards", in terms of selling "dirty cola" in India, while their products in the US, for instance, contain no pesticides.
And even before the last sound byte was heard on the issue, the competing cola majors put their heads together and called for an interaction with the media, where they dismissed CSE's allegations as "baseless".
Earlier in the day, CSE said its study found that 12 major brands sold in the capital, including Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Mirinda, Diet Pepsi and Limca, contained pesticide residues.
"The tests were done in our labs, based on international methodology and the study was funded by CSE," Ms Sunita Narain, Director, CSE, told Business Line.
Only six months ago, the same organisation had opened a can of worms on pesticide residue in bottled water and the exercise had ended with the Union Health Ministry notifying new norms for pesticides in packaged drinking water.
The soft drinks were tested for commonly used pesticides in India, such as organochlorine and organophosphorus. "All samples contained residues of four extremely toxic pesticides and insecticides: lindane, DDT, malathion and chlorpyrifos. The residue levels far exceeded the maximum residue limit for pesticides in water used as `food', set down by the European Economic Commission (EEC). Each sample had enough poison to cause — in the long term — cancer, damage to the nervous and reproductive systems, among other things," she pointed out.
Responding to industry's constant refrain that milk and other food products also contain pesticide, she said: "Just because others violate the law, it does not give the right to global corporates such as Coke and Pepsi to do the same. They are market leaders and need to set an example. Ground water here does contain pesticide, but companies should invest more in cleaning up the water, which is the raw material for soft drinks. Water accounts for more than 80 per cent of the soft drink."
About 6,500 million bottles of soft drinks were consumed in India in 2001. The existing laws — the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act and the Food Products Order — are weak and do not regulate pesticide content in soft drinks, she pointed out.
"We need a comprehensive pesticide policy. The regulations that exist have a total disregard for public health. And it is unfortunate that two giant corporations, who swear by the principles of corporate responsibility and global standards, have taken advantage of weak regulatory standards in India," she said.
Few unbelievable pics of Coca Cola and Pepsi like soft drinks :
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