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Colas do have pesticides: Centre
Published on Thu, Mar 15, 2007 at 11:40, Updated at Fri, Jun 15, 2007 in 
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IN SELF DEFENCE: Coca-Cola India has come out with an official statement saying its products are safe.
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New Delhi: The Health Ministry on Wednesday submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court admitting that there are pesticide residues in cold drinks.
The N K Ganguly Committee, set up to study the issue of pesticide content in colas, suggested that a committee be set up to look into the issue of food safety.
The Health Ministry also told the apex court that the Committee had suggested that there are certain pesticides, which have to be monitored for a period for three years
After the Health Ministry came out with that affidavit, Coca-Cola India has come out with an official statement.
In its press release, the company says, "Our products are safe and the analysis of the products for the pesticide residue is available on our website. We have always supported the setting up of standards on pesticide residue in soft drinks and welcome the move in that direction."
The Ganguly Committee was set up after Delhi-based NGO Centre for Science and Environment revealed that new tests have detected dangerous level of toxins in colas.
A similar CSE report in 2003 had led to a joint Parliamentary probe into the matter. Four years later, the NGO again went public with the findings of its studies, claiming that soft drinks were still not clean.
It claimed that compared to 2003, Pepsi contained 30 times higher pesticide residue on an average and Coca-Cola contained 27 times higher residue.
The NGO claimed that it found three to five different kinds of pesticide residues in all the 57 samples of 11 soft drink brands that it had collected from 25 different manufacturing plants of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, spread over 12 states.
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