Cola: Day after, it’s your test vs my test

This comes just two days after the state’s Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) approved samples collected from a plant in Pune.

‘‘Four Pepsi samples contained Lindane, a toxic pesticide, in a quantity 25 to 70 times more than the permissible limit for drinking water,’’ said FDA Minister Anil Deshmukh today.

Pepsi countered the charge citing the Centre’s all-clear: ‘‘The Union Ministry of Health has declared all soft drinks of Pepsi perfectly safe. The announcement was a result of rigorous tests ordered on soft drinks throughout the country. Tests results of the samples taken by Maharashtra Government are similar to results declared in Parliament.’’ Under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, there are no norms specifying the permissible limit of Lindane, known as a substitute for DDT, in soft drinks. As such, it’s not clear whether FDA can take legal action against the company, Deshmukh said.

A recent Central Government guideline says Lindane should not be more than 0.1 microgram per litre in packaged and mineral water, he said. The test report says Lindane was found to the extent of 0.76 microgram/litre in Pepsi, 0.62 microgram in Diet Pepsi, 0.25 microgram in Mirinda Orange and 0.35 microgram in Mountain Dew.

The content was upto the permissible limit in samples of Seven Up and Mirinda Lemon. The tests, conducted by the Residue Testing Wing of the Insecticide Testing Laboratory in Pune, tested for 33 pesticides including organochlorine pesticides, organophosphorous pesticides and synthetic pyrethroids.

Deshmukh said he has written to the Central Government seeking specific guidelines on the permissible limit for pesticides including Lindane in carbonated water. ‘‘So far, the Centre has issued guidelines only for packaged drinking water, but nothing for soft drinks or carbonated water,’’ he said.