Soft drinks

while a joint parliamentary committee probes into the details of alleged pesticide residues in aerated drinks, researchers have found that rats fed with Coca-cola developed ulcers and inflammation in their intestines, besides having damaged liver cells. The researchers, from the Thiruvananthapuram-based Kerala University, conducted numerous experiments to compare the beneficial effects of coconut water with Cola-cola.

Lies, well told

IN REEL life, when things go wrong, the director takes recourse to a re-take. Then there are the stunt-men, who stand in for the hero when the going gets tough. In real life, there are no such provisions. Which is why it is time to take to take serious note of the way in which the real problem of multiple pesticide residues in soft drinks is being sublimated into make-believe by contract-laden film stars.

I drink cola, therefore I am?

Cola Companies It was the year 1960. As the Democrat J F Kennedy and Republican Richard Nixon contested for us presidency, the Democrats came out with a poster of Nixon, with the phrase, "Would you buy a used car from this man?" Nixon eventually lost that election, but 12 years later, he did get his chance to prove how right the Democrats were.

The dumber number game

I met an eminent economist last week. He quoted another eminent economist-cum-columnist, and asked me if it was true that apples had higher pesticide residues than Coke or Pepsi. Before I could respond, he rather menacingly concluded: "And is it not true that mother's milk has pesticide?"

Tightening up

the soft drink episode has apparently made the authorities wise up to the need for hard resolve. On August 26, 2003, the Union ministry of health and family welfare (mohfw) issued a draft notification amending the Prevention of Food Adulteration (pfa) Rules, 1955, to give them more teeth. The proposed changes seek to stringently limit the presence of pesticides and poisonous metals in all types of ready-to-serve beverages.

Update

august 5, 2003: Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) releases report on pesticide residues in 12 major cold drink brands sold in and around Delhi. august 6: Pepsico India Holdings Limited and Coca-Cola India advertise laboratory tests claiming they are clean.

Toxic taint

the state pollution control boards of Kerala, West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh (hp) have detected the presence of cadmium in sludge supplied as fertiliser to farmers by soft-drinks makers.

Kolkata's desi soft drink

The us beverage giants shell out billions to pop out punch-lines, and repackage Shah Rukh Khan to counter the repackaged Aamir Khan and vice-versa. Many do follow the Khan roadshow and jump on the cold drink bandwagon. But in West Bengal, some other heroes are also beating the heat, sans any forced assertion.

We the regulators

Last fortnight, I said I did not know how the two Cola giants would respond to our study on pesticides in soft drinks. Now I do. I have learnt how global corporations deal with public concerns.

Pesticides in soft drinks: media war

pesticides in soft drinks On August 5, six months after releasing a study on the presence of pesticide residues in packaged drinking water, the Pollution Monitoring Laboratory of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) made public its report of finding pesticides in 12 leading cold drinks brands in India (See : "Colanisation's dirty dozen", August 15, 2003).