Indian state bans soft drinks after Coke, Pepsi gets toxic label

breitbart.com ^ | 08-04-06 | WestVirginiaRebel

[WestVirginiaRebel]

An Indian state has banned the sale of soft drinks as the country's highest court told the US beverage giants Pepsico and Coca-Cola to reveal the ingredients of their products.

"The ban will be in force in all educational institutes, including medical and technical colleges and universities and offenders will be punished," a spokesman from the administration of northern Rajasthan state announced Friday.

[MimirsWell]

Not true Markus. We are not China. It has been discovered twice in 3 years that the soft-drinks have a very high pesticide content. At this time, we are pretty sure its not the water. So there must be something in the concentrates.

[MimirsWell]

Not phosphoric acid.

[Orange1998]

Your right and the someone is making good money off the governments inefficiency. I can tell you and I will get along just fine after seeing your home page. The UN helmet says it all!

[Orange1998]

TajaNews - National
Higher pestisides in 1/3rd samples of Pepsi, Coke - August 29, 2003 - 10:26

New Delhi: A Government research institute today revealed that some of the soft drink samples from Pepsi and Coke contained much higher levels of pesticides like lindane and DDT than permissible under the European Union norms.

The report of the Central Food Laboratory, released by the Government here, said that pesticide lindane was present in all the soft drinks that were tested but was higher by 1.1 to 1.4 times the Eurpoean norms in 33 per cent of the samples.

Likewise, many of the samples contained DDT and metabolites above the EEC norms, it added. Another pesticide chlorpyriphos was also present in all the samples, it said. [ TajaNews ]

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[An_Indian]

Before you shoot of your mounth, read about the issue correctly. This was the report on which the colas have been banned:

BIS = Bureau of Indian Standards

Highlights of the 2006 CSE study on pesticides in colas-II:

1. A cocktail of 3-6 pesticides was present in all samples.

2. 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.

3. Chlorpyrifos (a known neurotoxin) levels were 47 times higher; a Coca-Cola sample from Mumbai had a 200 times higher level.

4. Heptachlor, banned in India, was found in 71 per cent of the samples, at levels 4 times higher than BIS standards.

5. 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).

6. Pepsi cola contained 30 times higher residues on an average.

7. Coca-Cola contained 27 times higher residues on an average.

http://www.cseindia.org/aboutus/press_releases/press-index.htm

Now tell me, will your govt. not do anything if a company thats selling the most popular drink flouts the pesticide and chemical limits set by the govt. And also the standards set by BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) are not even as strict as European or AMerican standards.

and here we have idiots call India all kinds of names just when its trying to protect its citizens from drinking pesticides! Oh! maybe Indians are supposed to drink because the product was made by a American company because the value of Indian's life is not the same of an American.

[MimirsWell]

There are actually no other soft-drink manufacturers barring these 2. In some states there are companies but they are so small, they cant match the 2 giants in distribution or scale. Most of the stuff that they make are just as bad if not worse and few urban people actually buy anything but Coke and Pepsi made drinks. So your argument does not hold good.

We would very much like Coke and Pepsi to stay on in the Indian market. Unlike the Chinese, we have no plans to have an Indian version of everything in the world. But having said so, I don't see why we should prove our commitment to free markets by allowing companies to sell junk, deplete and pollute our resources and get away with it. These 2 companies better get their act together, behave in a socially responsible manner and enjoy access to our market. Otherwise, they can pack up their bags and go. You should actually be supporting this as Americans. Its things that these guys do that help strengthen perceptions of America and Americans world-wide. If you would like them to get away with such behaviour, you are not helping the American cause.

[MimirsWell]

China is not communist economically anymore. They are more Fascist-Capitalist.

[AnAmericanMother]

Might see one of THESE Bimmers in there somewhere . . .

[MimirsWell]

Let's not get off the topic here. It makes no sense to compare cars and soft-drinks, especially since there are more 4 wheelers than 3 wheelers in India, number-wise and brand-wise.

The topic is pesticides in soft-drinks. Whether they were in the water that these companies used or otherwise, obviously coke and pepsi have a different standard for their consumers in the west and their consumers in India. I see nothing wrong in the ban. When i buy a coke, I pay to drink a "COCA COLA", the same as you would in the US, if it is not the same, then either they shouldn't be selling it as such and if its dangerous to my health, they had better not be selling it at all.

[AnAmericanMother]

My specialty is getting off topic.

But, seriously, I think you may misunderstand how the Coca-Cola company operates.

Coca-Cola sells its syrup only, to local bottlers. It is not Coca-Cola that prepares and bottles the product; the local bottling company acting under license mixes the syrup with carbonated water and bottles it.

If the local bottlers are in fact using contaminated water, Coca-Cola will be the first to yank their license. IF this is a true accusation and not an attempt by local soft drink manufacturers to corner the market.

[MimirsWell]

This I knew, but like I said, local manufacturers are so few and so small in scale, they don't have the influence or the market capitalization to threaten Pepsi and Coca cola. The point is that if the giants just sell syrup and aren't scrutinizing their brand, they are allowing their franchisees to tarnish their image. I accept that these franchisees are Indian, I am not equating this incident to something equivalent of an anti-American tirade. The samples have been picked from more than one state in India, 23 in all I think. There are a few hundred if not more factories where Coke and Pepsi are bottled. A fact that in all these states the pesticide in the drink is the same means that it isn't necessarily coming from the water in the states. This means that there is negligence on the part of these companies in choosing their franchisees. You must remember that we are not accusing Coke or Pepsi of trying to poison the country willfully. If they are as lax about who bottles their drink and uses their brand, its really their fault.

India is a federal country, politically and demographically, and is heavily decentralised in many issues including the fertilizers and pesticides used by farmers in each region. Also the size of the country means that not every region has the same pests, and hence the need to use the same pesticide cocktail if you get my drift.

[Lt_funk]

IT'S PEOPLE!

[MediaMole]

harmful chemicals such as... caffeine....

Has India banned coffee and tea yet?

[Mase]

If you read the chemical soup that is Pepsi and Coke you shouldn't drink it either, the stuff is nasty for you.

Chemical soup? LOL

What food do you approve of isn't made of chemicals?

[Mase]

obviously coke and pepsi have a different standard for their consumers in the west and their consumers in India.

That's nonsense. Coke and Pepsi will not allow their bottlers to hurt their brand. If what this article claims is true, then these two manufacturers will be all over this. A company doesn't create the most recognized brand in the world by treating their customers in the manner you describe.

[kingu]

Not phosphoric acid.

Processed food use (of phosphoric acid)

It is also used to acidify foods and beverages such as various colas, but not without controversy as to its health effects. It provides a tangy taste, and being a mass produced chemical, is available cheaply and in large quantities. The low cost and bulk availability is unlike more expensive natural seasonings that give comparable flavors, such as ginger for tangyness, or citric acid for sourness, obtainable from lemons and limes. (However most citric acid in the food industry is not extracted from citrus fruit, but fermented by Aspergillus niger mould from scrap molasses, waste starch hydrolysates and phosphoric acid.)

[MimirsWell]

What I meant was phosphoric acid is not mentioned in the list of ingredients on the bottles' labels.

[MimirsWell]

There s no smoke without fire.

If what you say is true and there is indeed no pessticides in the soft drinks then there would be no controversy in the first place.

[Kirkwood]

"Most Indians are Hindu, not Muslim (though they have a large amount of Muslims, too). "

YEESH!!! I never said they were muslim, did I? I just implied they can drink mecca-cola if they banned coke and pepsi.

[An_Indian]

so funny. maybe e will as long as they dont sell us drinks that have 20-30 times pesticide levels than the prescribed level. Would you allow your kids to drink such drinks with high content of harmful substances?