Sunita Narain: Non-negotiable standards

DOWN TO EARTH

When we released our study on pesticides in soft drinks, our objective was clear: we needed to prod action on regulations, which had been stymied because of corporate pressure. Three years had lapsed since we published our first report on pesticides in colas. The response then had been immediate and vituperative. "There are no pesticides in our drinks and CSE cannot test our products" was the line taken. This challenge led to the formation of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to investigate, not the pesticides in colas, but our institution. We were given the bitter taste of the power of these companies.

When the JPC ruled in our favour and asked the government to set regulations, we knew the real work had just begun. The regulation on pesticide residues in colas would enable us to revamp the standard-setting mechanisms for food and drinks, to ensure that contamination would be minimised and kept within safety limits.

The first issue brought to the forefront was whether the standard for soft drinks should be the same as the standard for juices and other beverages. Clubbing the products would make either the water standard too lenient or the juice standard too stringent. Both would be impractical.

But the bottom line was to ensure that the overall exposure of Indians to different contaminants was kept at safe levels. This was the second regulatory challenge. How would we determine total exposure based on the acceptable daily intake of each contaminant and how would this be apportioned in our diets? This meant deciding on the trade-off between poison and nutrition "" essential food could be given a quota of pesticides as against non-nutritive foods.

The third challenge was to decide if there would be a final product standard. The cola majors strongly argued for a standard based on raw agricultural commodities. This would mean regulating the water and sugar used in their products separately. The enforcement would be impossible as inspectors would have to check and certify each ingredient.

The next challenge was then to work on how this multi-ingredient final product standard would be set. The principle was simple: the final residues allowed in the product were the sum of the residues legally allowed on raw agricultural commodities, proportional to the constituent in the product. In simpler words, it meant that if water comprised 89 per cent of the product and if sugar comprised 10 per cent of the final product, then residues legally allowed in these constituents would be carried forward.

Many meetings later, the matter was settled. The committee, which agreed to set the standards, faced opposition from the industry and also ironically, from the health ministry, which is the custodian of health safety in the country. The final standard was quietly buried.

After almost two years of fruitless negotiations, the cola companies made their intentions crystal clear: the final product standard would not be finalised because it was not in their interest to be regulated. What this showed us was how corporate power would work against health-based regulations.

The battle is now in the open. Just remember, this is not just about colas or pesticides. It is about how we will regulate against the will-not of the world's big and small corporations. Just remember, this is about food "" what we eat and drink. It is about our health. It is non-negotiable.