Posted on 02/05/2004 9:21:04 AM PST by dead
Coca-Cola and PepsiCo sold soft drinks containing pesticides harmful to human health and misled India's one billion people over claims that their products were safe for human consumption, according to an Indian parliamentary report.
An estimated seven bottles of cold drinks per person are sold in India each year. Coca-Cola and PepsiCo account for more than 80 per cent of the $A2.1 billion market.
A Delhi-based environmental group, the Centre for Science and Environment, last year claimed that soft drink products manufactured in India contained toxins far above the levels permitted in the developed world.
Tests conducted by the group showed Pepsi's soft drinks had 36 times the level of pesticide residues permitted under European Union regulations. Coca-Cola's soft drinks had 30 times the legal level.
The tests found toxins, including lindane and DDT, in 12 different soft drinks. If ingested over long periods, the chemicals could lead to cancer and immune system failure. Similar tests on colas sold in the US found no such toxins.
The joint committee's report, released on Wednesday, recommended stringent new regulations to eradicate all pesticide residues from fizzy drinks.
It said that test results from five laboratories found similar toxin levels in Indian colas.
"We did not find exactly the same level of pesticides or the same quantities but this was because they were not exactly the same samples," said an MP, Sanjay Nirupam. "The batches were different, the manufacturing was different. But all contained pesticides."
Coca-Cola and PepsiCo said they were reviewing the report.
The US companies were also attacked over the running of two bottling plants in the southern state of Kerala. The report said the plants had caused water pollution, the depletion of ground water, reduced crop yield, skin disorders and other ailments.
Both companies said they had recharged local aquifers with the same amount of water used. But the report says their efforts were not "commensurate enough".
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