The Supreme Court today asked Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages to withdraw its petition, saying there were no grounds for the Court to hear the issue. Although a copy of the petition was not yet available, Mr Kapil Sibal, counsel for Coca-Cola, argued that the tests on cola samples were being carried out by laboratories across the country that are not accredited and without any standards for pesticide levels in the country.
The Centre for Science and Environment welcomes the decision of the High Court in response to a petition filed by PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt Ltd and Others, calling for an expert committee to review the findings of pesticide residues in carbonated soft drinks. The experts’ findings are to be made available in 3 weeks. All sides agreed that the government should choose the laboratories where the testing is done, and samples for testing should be picked up at random from the market, not provided by the company.
New Delhi, August 8, 2003: The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) welcomes the Union government’s initiative to have soft drinks sold by the two cola giants independently tested for pesticide residues. CSE advises the government to broaden the ambit: testing must be done also for residues of cadmium, arsenic and lead, since the standard for these hazardous substances is much higher – 50 times – than what is legislated for the bottled water industry.
New Delhi August 7, 2003: The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) would like to express its disbelief and its annoyance at the way the soft drink industry is trying to make a mockery of the Indian public and the media. Since CSE's report was released on August 5, soft drink manufacturers have not hesitated to call CSE by every possible name and to attack its credibility; they have also termed its reports "baseless". CSE did not respond because it wanted to see the data that the soft drink manufacturers had in their defense.
Laboratory test finds pesticide residues in all cold drinks tested. Just as it had in bottled water six months ago. How hollow are the quality claims of soft drink multinationals? How can Indian consumers be saddled with sub-standard products? How can companies get away with such bad practices?