Call for enacting softdrink quality norms

A day after the health ministry's notification enforcing the bottled water norms for softdrink manufacturers, cola major PepsiCo India said it welcomed the decision.

"With this step the standards prescribed in India for carbonated beverages come in line with the highest international standards being followed anywhere in the world including in the European Union," said a company spokesperson.

But the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) in its draft recommendations on softdrink safety norms, released last week, has called for regulations on the finished product rather than just the water being used in the softdrinks.

The draft said in softdrinks, too, pesticide residues, considered individually and totally, should be restricted to be not more than 0.0001 milligram per litre and 0.0005 milligram per litre, respectively.

If implemented, India will be the first country to have pesticide norms for finished products. BIS' recommendations are out for public comment till August 3, and will be finalised thereafter.

The Consumer Co-ordination Council, a coalition of 55 leading consumer groups, and the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on Wednesday urged the government to make the BIS recommendations the law.

BIS, which comes under the ministry of agriculture, food and consumer affairs, began revising its standards for carbonated beverages after a CSE report in August 2003, cited pesticide residues in bottled drinks sold by Coca-Cola and PepsiCo in the country.

"Industrialised world has not set standards for pesticide residue in its finished products, like softdrinks, because it has by and large cleaned up its agricultural produce and drinking water of contaminants," Sunita Narain, director, CSE.

She added that a large part of the developing world faced the growing problem of pesticide contamination in food and water, and therefore, it becomes imperative to finalise standards for processed food products.

The bureau has also proposed standards to regulate the pH value and follow the global best practice in the use of caffeine in soft drinks. Such a stringent standard is not followed anywhere in the world except South Africa.

In the draft standards, the quantum of caffeine permitted in softdrinks has been reduced to 145 mg/litre from the current 200 mg a litre. The bureau said if the amount of caffeine exceeds this limit, there should be a strong health advisory labelling on the product.

According to CSE, currently PepsiCo's Mountain Dew is the only non-cola drink to be using caffine at the levels of 200mg per litre.

Setting the standard

• Call for regulations on the finished product rather than just the water being used in the softdrinks.
• Proposes to regulate the pH value and follow the global best practice in the use of caffeine in softdrinks.