U.S. Water News Online
NEW DELHI, India -- The Indian arms of PepsiCo Inc. and Coca-Cola Co. are selling soft drinks in India containing dangerous levels of pesticide residue, an independent research group says. The companies defended the quality of their products.
Sunita Narain, chief of the independent New Delhi-based Center for Science and Environment, told reporters the levels of pesticides in the PepsiCo brands tested were 36 times higher than European Union standards.
The average for all Coca-Cola products was 30 times higher than guidelines used by the European Union, she said, noting the residue was apparently coming from groundwater polluted by toxic pesticides.
The top executives of the two rival companies held a rare joint news conference denying the allegations and demanding to know what laboratories did the testing, and how the research was conducted.
The Center acknowledged that Indian brands also have high pesticide levels, because agricultural pesticides are in the country's groundwater, but said the focus was on Coke and Pepsi because they account for more than three-fourths of the bottled soft drinks consumed in India.
``We tested the two soft drink brands sold in the United States to see if these contained pesticides. They didn't,'' Narain said.
The toxins found in the soft drinks could, if consumed over a long period, cause cancer, damage to the nervous system, birth defects and disruption of the immune system, Narain said. She noted that India has no laws banning pesticides in soft drinks.
Sanjeev Gupta, president and chief executive of Coca-Cola India, challenged the assertion that the soft drink sold in India is different than in other countries. ``Our product is ... the same product, which we sell in America, in Europe and India,'' he said.
Calling the report ``baseless,'' Rajeev Bakshi, head of PepsiCo India Holdings Private Ltd., demanded the claims made by the research body be verified by an independent and accredited laboratory that is capable of conducting sophisticated tests for pesticides.
Twelve samples of Pepsi and Coke purchased in and around the Indian capital contained toxic pesticides and insecticides, including lindane, DDT and malathion, the Center said its researchers found.
It did not say which laboratories were used, but a similar report by the Center in February on bottled water sold by Coke, Pepsi and other companies was accepted by the companies. Gupta, in fact, said that Coke had checked all its processes and established new testing procedures on the basis of the previous report.
Those earlier findings on bottled water prompted the Indian government to withdraw quality certificates given to some of India's most popular brands of bottled water and issue strict guidelines.
Considered one India's leading research centers on environment issues, the Center for Science and Environment receives funds from the Indian government as well as domestic and overseas private agencies.
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