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CSE sharpens attack on Coke, Pepsi
Friday, 08 August 2003, 19:30 IST
NEW DELHI: An environmental NGO that claimed Coca-Cola and Pepsi products contained unusually high levels of toxins Thursday sharpened its attack on the beverage giants, saying its findings were bolstered by data released by the soft drink manufacturers.
In a statement issued late Thursday, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) also expressed its "disbelief and annoyance" at the way the soft drink industry was "trying to make a mockery of the Indian public and the media".
The two U.S.-based soft drink firms have been rattled by the CSE study that claimed a dozen popular brands of Coca-Cola and Pepsi beverages contained a deadly cocktail of pesticide residues.
They refuted CSE's analysis and said their products were safe.
In its statement, CSE said 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'".
After examining data made public by PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, CSE said they continued to "convolute, confuse and indeed, take the Indian public for a ride".
CSE said the data released by Pepsi and Coca-Cola pertained to bottled water products sold by them and not to soft drinks.
The CSE study had said the pesticides found in soft drinks could cause cancer, damage to nervous and reproductive systems, birth defects and severe disruption of the immune system.
"We would like to remind Coke that the simple reason it is releasing this data in the first place is because we forced it to analyse the pesticide residues on a regular basis and because of the new norms and notifications being issued by the government of India," the statement said.
"This is not data related to its soft drink products. It is not even data for the plants that manufacture soft drinks."
CSE dismissed the data produced by the two companies.
"For the past two days, CSE has been slandered and discredited by these organisations, and now seeing the weak defence that these companies have offered, CSE is seriously contemplating all options, including legal action," the statement said.
Source: IANS
Source: IANS