Soft Drinks Still Unsafe…
Finds the 2006 nationwide study by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)
Little done since 2003, when CSE found unsafe levels of pesticides in soft drink samples from Delhi
The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) had asked for standards for carbonated beverages; the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has formulated standards. But the finalised standards have not been notified
Our health, particularly the health of our children, seems to be of little concern to the regulator, the Union ministry of health and family welfare New Delhi, August 2, 2006: Three years after CSE released its findings on pesticide residues in soft drinks, a new nationwide study shows nothing much has changed: soft drinks remain unsafe and unhealthy. And public health remains severely compromised. Worse, even the directions given by the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) have been disregarded: standards for safety have been finalised but blocked because of company opposition. Our health is nobody’s business, it would seem, indicts the study.
The 2006 CSE study tests 57 samples of 11 soft drink brands, from 25 different manufacturing plants of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, spread over 12 states. The study finds pesticide residues in all samples; it finds a cocktail of 3-5 different pesticides in all samples — on an average 24 times higher than BIS norms, which have been finalised but not yet notified. The levels in some samples — for instance, Coca-Cola bought in Kolkata — exceeded the BIS standards by 140 times for the deadly pesticide Lindane. Similarly, a Coca-Cola sample manufactured in Thane contained the neurotoxin Chlorpyrifos, 200 times the standard. “This is clearly unacceptable as we know that pesticides are tiny toxins and impact our bodies over time,” says Sunita Narain, director, CSE.
The current study was conducted by the same Pollution Monitoring Laboratory of CSE, which had tested samples in 2003. It will be recalled that the two soft drink companies had raised numerous issues regarding the veracity of the CSE study and the capabilities of its laboratory staff, which were scrutinised and debunked by JPC in its report. The JPC endorsed the methodology and the findings of the 2003 CSE study. This time, further improvements have been made. Firstly, the laboratory is now accredited with ISO 9001:2000 quality management system. Secondly, the laboratory has confirmed the presence of the pesticides using an expensive and state of art equipment — the GC-MS. “We have fully complied with the JPC directions and are even more confident about our findings,” says Chandra Bhushan, associate director at CSE.
In 2003, the average level of pesticide residues in Delhi samples was 34 times above the same BIS standard. But this cannot be taken even as a marginal reduction, because this time, shockingly, CSE has found pesticide residues as high as 52 times in bottles bought in Kolkata, and 42 times in bottles bought in Nainital and Gorakhpur. Similarly, bottles bought in Mumbai, manufactured in Thane and Nagpur, are 34 times above the BIS standard.
The dumber number game
“Safety is also not only about high or low numbers,” explains Narain. Companies tell us that they are safe because pesticide residues are tiny and are lower in their products than what is found in other products — say, milk and juice. But this is scientific jugglery. Pesticides are tiny toxins and deadly for us if we are exposed to quantities higher than what is defined as an acceptable limit. In other words, our exposure, through the food we eat and water we drink, must be kept under the threshold of safety. The safe limit — or the standard — in each product is set keeping in mind the nutrition-pesticide trade-off — a quota for residues can be allowed in nutritive food like milk or juice, but not in non-nutritive products like carbonated beverages. This is why, since the release of its 2003 study, CSE has demanded that government must set standards for safe levels of pesticide residues in soft drinks.
“This is a grave public health scandal,” says Narain. In early February 2004, confirming the unsafe levels of pesticides in soft drinks, JPC had directed government to set standards for these residues in the products. Since then, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has, in its sectional committee, met over 20 times to deliberate on the standards. In October 2005, after months of data analysis and discussion with all stakeholders — including the two soft drink majors — the standards were finalised by the committee. In March 2006, the committee met once again to reconfirm the standards. But since then, the status remains the same: the standards are finalised but not notified.
The final standards are ironically being opposed by the Union ministry of health and family welfare, which argues that more research needs to be done. The ministry has, in the last three years, set up committee after committee, and various sub-committees, to examine the safety concerns, but with little progress. Clearly, ‘good’ science cannot become a pretext for prevarication and obstruction. “We know that the companies are strongly opposed to this standard as it will bring them under the ambit of regulators,” says CSE which has also put deliberations on all issues concerning the setting of standards, in the public domain.
This is an issue of public health and so, it is not negotiable. Our demand is simple, says CSE: The government must notify the final product standards and make these mandatory for soft drink companies, so that soft drinks, consumed particularly by children, are checked and regulated. No more delays. No more procedures. We want safety first and foremost.
For the complete Down To Earth cover story, the CSE lab report, the press conference presentation, this press release and related documents, please visit: http://www.cseindia.org/misc/cola-indepth/cola2006/cola-index.htm
For a list of resource persons to contact on this issue, click here. Highlights of the 2006 CSE study on pesticides in colas-II:
A cocktail of 3-6 pesticides was present in all samples.
Lindane (a confirmed carcinogen) levels were over 54 times above the BIS standard; in one Coca-Cola sample from Kolkata, it was 140 times higher.
Chlorpyrifos (a known neurotoxin) levels were 47 times higher; a Coca-Cola sample from Mumbai had a 200 times higher level.
Heptachlor, banned in India, was found in 71 per cent of the samples, at levels 4 times higher than BIS standards.
Average amount of pesticide residues found in all the samples was 11.85 parts per billion (ppb) — 24 times higher than the BIS standards for total pesticides in soft drinks (0.5 ppb).
Pepsi cola contained 30 times higher residues on an average.
Coca-Cola contained 27 times higher residues on an average.
Lage des indischen Bundesstaates Kerala

 Der indische Bundesstaat Kerala untersagt die Produktion und den Verkauf von Coca-Cola und Pepsi. Grund für die Maßnahme ist ein Bericht der indischen Nichtregierungsorganisation „Centre for Science and Environment“ (CSE) mit Sitz in Neu-Delhi, wonach die Getränke gesundheitsschädliche Pestizide enthalten. Nach Ansicht der linksgerichteten   Regierung des südindischen Bundesstaates stellen die Getränke ein Gesundheitsrisiko dar. Dies sagte der Chief Minister von Kerala heute gegenüber Reportern.

Kerala ist der fünfte indische Bundesstaat, der Maßnahmen gegen die Softdrinkhersteller ergreift, jedoch sind die von der Regierung des südindischen Bundesstaates angeordneten Maßnahmen bisher die gravierendsten. In vier weiteren Bundesstaaten wurden die Produkte der beiden Getränkehersteller aus Schulen, Hochschulen und Krankenhäusern verbannt.  

Pepsi-Werbung in Bijapur, Indien 
Das „Centre for Science and Environment“ hatte in 12 indischen Bundesstaaten insgesamt 57 Proben von 11 Softdrinks, die von Coca-Cola und Pepsi in Indien produziert wurden, genommen. Dabei wurden laut Bericht der Nichtregierungsorganisation Werte an Pestiziden gemessen, die die vom Bureau of Indian Standards vorgegebenen Werte im Durchschnitt um das 24-fache übersteigen. In allen Proben wurden Cocktails von drei bis fünf verschiedenen Pestiziden nachgewiesen. So wurde zum Beispiel in einer in Kolkata gekauften Coca-Cola nach Angaben des CSE ein Wert des tödlichen Insektizids Lindan gemessen, der den gesetzlichen Höchstwert um das 140-Fache überschreitet. Die Pestizidrückstände befänden sich im Grundwasser, das die Getränkehersteller bei der Produktion ihrer Softdrinks verwenden. Bereits vor drei Jahren hatte das CSE eine ähnliche Studie veröffentlicht. Nach Meinung der Nichtregierungsorganisation hat sich seitdem nicht viel verändert.  

In einer auf „coca-colaindia.com“ am 5. August veröffentlichten Pressemitteilung der Vereinigung indischer Softdrinkhersteller mit dem Titel „Softdrinks sind vollständig sicher“ beziehen die Getränkehersteller Stellung gegen die Vorwürfe der indischen Nichtregierungsorganisation. In der Pressemitteilung heißt es, die in Indien produzierten Softdrinks entsprächen den strengen internationalen Normen und allen maßgeblichen nationalen Vorschriften. Die Getränkehersteller haben nach eigenen Angaben in den letzten drei Jahren zusammen mit der indischen Regierung, Wissenschaftlern und Nichtregierungsorganisationen an der Erarbeitung strenger, an wissenschaftlichen Normen orientierter, Vorschriften mitgewirkt, welche gleichwertig mit den besten Vorschriften der Welt seien. Viswas Mehta, der Gesundheitsminister von Kerala, kündigte an, dass sein Ministerium weitere Proben von Produkten der Hersteller Coca-Cola und Pepsi nehmen wird, um sie von unabhängigen Instituten testen zu lassen. 

Die Unternehmen Coca-Cola und Pepsi beherrschen Medienberichten zufolge etwa 80 Prozent des indischen Softdrinkmarktes. Um einem möglichen Absatzrückgang entgegezuwirken, schaltete der Coca-Cola-Konzern Anzeigen in indischen Zeitungen. Am Freitag dieser Woche hatte der oberste indische Gerichtshof das Unternehmen dazu aufgefordert, die Inhaltsstoffe seiner Produkte offenzulegen.