Though the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Sushma Swaraj announced in Parliament that the soft drinks including Pepsi and Coke were ‘‘safe’’, the government has issued a draft notification on standards to regulate pesticides and heavy metals in beverages. The beverages mentioned include carbonated water, fruit and vegetable juices, fruit syrup, fruit squash, fruit drink and soft drink concentrates. This notification comes in the wake of an alarming report by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). ‘‘The draft notification is an important step in ensuring that regulations on this food industry are tightened and made health-based,’’ said Sunita Narain, Director, CSE. Industry sources are ‘‘aghast’’ at the notification and say that with these strict standards, the entire food processing industry will have to close down. Is it possible to meet these standards in Coke and Pepsi? ‘‘Hypothetically yes, if we import refined sugar. The new draft has just pasted standards for water on to the finished product which is impossible to meet,’’ said an official from a soft drink company. The industry is also taken aback as they claim that a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) under Sharad Pawar is already looking into the matter. The JPC was set-up after the Health Ministry had conducted their own tests and found that nearly all the samples had traces of pesticide lindane and chlorparyphos, though not as much as the CSE study. Swaraj had said that though these levels were safe, there was a need to strengthen standards for food in the country. These new standards have been drafted as per the recommendations of the Central Committee on Food Safety (CCFS) and conform to the best in the world. A month’s time has been given for feedback, response and discussion before they are finally notified under Prevention of Food Adulteration Act.
