Pesticides in Indian Colas

The government-owned Central Food Laboratories in Mysore and Kolkata (Calcutta) independently analyzed the same 12 brands in which the CSE had detected pesticide residues, including the presence of organochlorine and organophosphorous traces.

The Mysore laboratory detected 0.00132 mg of organochlorine per liter in Coca-Cola and 0.000008 mg per liter in Pepsi Cola. This was much lower than levels found by the CSE -- 0.0044mg per liter and 0.0035 mg per liter respectively.

The parliamentary report stated, "CSE stands corroborated on its finding of pesticide residues but their quantities vary widely. But these variations can be attributed to a host of factors like manufacturing locations, date of manufacture and storage conditions." It also commended the NGO for being the first to make these allegations.

A committee member, Sanjay Nirupam, said, "Consumers have been paying for the end product, so why are cola firms insisting on setting norms for the ingredients? The ball is now in the court of the government."

CSE Director Sunita Narain expressed how thrilled she was by the committee’s report. "The committee has endorsed the concerns of public health in the country and it puts to rest the entire cola companies versus the CSE debate." During the heated controversy that surfaced after the original allegations, Ms Narain was always at pains to emphasize that the focus of its criticism was not against the soft drinks manufacturers but against the lack of Indian government standards regarding food and drink.

India First to Regulate Pesticides in Finished Product

Now, there has been a volte face with the Indian government being the first in the world to mandate standards and regulate pesticide residues in the finished product, according to the CSE. Industrial countries do not face this problem because both their water and farm commodities are not contaminated with pesticides as they are in the developing world. The government has announced that it may set these standards by the end of February itself.

The parliamentary committee, headed by the veteran political leader Sharad Pawar, has also asked the government to adopt the global best-practice standards on the use of caffeine in these drinks. This would go a long way in weaning away young consumers from what can easily become an addictive habit.

India's Water Under the Microscope

The committee has called for an end to the over-exploitation of underground water for use in cola drinks. Villagers from Plachimada in Kerala state in south India have protested against such misuse. After the end of the recent World Social Forum in Mumbai in January, there was a meeting at the village to highlight how Coca-Cola was withdrawing water to manufacture its drinks and depriving local people of their basic resources.

The committee has also demanded standards for clean and potable water. The CSE’s first investigation was into traces of pesticide in bottled water sold in India. Since the brands made by Coca-Cola and Pepsi came off best in that report, the other manufacturers had alleged that the CSE had been paid off to tarnish their image by these huge multinationals!

Both Coca-Cola and Pepsi claim that they have not been indicted in the report. "We are reviewing the committee report," read a statement from Pepsi. "We share the government’s interest in protecting consumer health, which is why we have always produced beverages according to the same high quality standards we use around the world. We are confident that the safety of Indian consumers can be ensured by establishing scientific, health-based standards that are consistent with internationally accepted norms."

Sunil Gupta, Vice President for Corporate Affairs in Coca-Cola said: "Our products made in India are safe and world class. We follow one quality system across the world. Our products already meet the science-based norms recommended by the joint parliamentary committee. We look forward to the government finalizing the scientific norms of the country."

Despite these protestations, it seems clear that at present, while adhering to current Indian government standards, these manufacturers are permitting traces of pesticide in their colas, which would not be present in industrial countries. The two cola kings had launched an advertising blitz on TV since the CSE report, proclaiming how safe their drinks were. These featured India’s leading film actors.

The committee itself recognized that the zero pesticide norms applicable in Europe need not be introduced in India, but added that the two multi-national corporations, being the biggest players in the market, should set an example.

The cola companies had sought to include fruit juices within the same parliamentary scrutiny that was applied to carbonated drinks. However, the committee clarified that in fruit juices, water was not the main ingredient, whereas more than 80% of the content of soft drinks is water.

Ms Narain has explained how excited she was at the response of the members of parliament. The CSE feared that, given the technical nature of the exercise, they would not pursue it diligently. As she put it, the NGO assumed that "their report would be a typical technocratic excise written by so-called specialists with no political or policy framework."

"But we were surprised," Ms Narain said. "We found that it was possible to earn their respect with information and knowledge. Most importantly, they believed that these were crucial issues that needed public advocacy and support. To us, in many ways, this report is all about vindicating India's democracy. Anil Agarwal (the CSE’s founder who passed away four years ago) always said that we need to ‘work our democracy’. This is precisely what this report is about.

"This is also a report that has to be read in view of the discourse on globalization. If globalization has to work, it will demand strong and effective regulatory systems and, most of all, policy makers prepared to decide in the interests of all. This report, with its firm indictment of the two largest companies of the world and their methods of working in the developing world, can and must become the basis of future action."

Darryl D’Monte is the founder of the International Federation of Environmental Journalists. He is also the Chairperson of the Forum of Environmental Journalists of India (FEJI) and a syndicated columnist and freelance writer. He has published two books: "Temples or Tombs? Industry versus Environment: Three Controversies", Center for Science & Environment, New Delhi, 1985 and "Ripping the Fabric: The Decline of Mumbai and its Mills", Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2002. He was previously the Resident Editor of the "Indian Express" (1979-1981) and of the "Times of India" (1988-1994) in Mumbai. Your emails will be forwarded to him by contacting the editor at ScienceTech@islam-online.net.