Cold drinks, hard facts

Interestingly, the pesticide residues cited in the CSE report are the very ones that had surfaced it its February report on bottled water: Lindane, DDT, malathion and chlorpyrifos. If the report is indeed accurate, this means that the cola giants, despite having been hauled over the coals for the quality of their bottled water, continued to persist with the same old dodgy sources of water for their soft drinks. Which indicates either an extremely high level of brazenness or unsuspected depths of apathy. We do realise that, technically speaking, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo can claim to be on the right side of the law given that the cold drinks sector in India is virtually unregulated with few clearly defined norms. But what is particularly striking about the CSE report is evidence that the same brands, when sold in the US, do not contain the unwelcome traces of toxins. Which begs the question why multi-billion dollar enterprises do not think it worth their while to maintain uniform standards for their products worldwide. This would cut into profits, certainly, but surely it is worth the effort in the interests of brand image and consumer confidence?

The latest shocker from CSE also points fingers at regulatory authorities at home. After the outcry that greeted the bottled water controversy, everyone, from manufacturers to those responsible for public health, seems to have gone to sleep. As this newspaper has pointed out, rules and regulations are framed, not so much to ensure the health and welfare of the consumer, as to prevent law suits. Also, there is no clear chain of command in terms of monitoring and regulation. While one authority issues the licence, another does the regulation 8212; with each ignorant of, or indifferent to, what the other has done or plans to do. When things get sticky, each blames the other, with consumers as usual having to pay the price. The fine print then is this: Apathy is toxic.