MPs demand ban on Coke and Pepsi

New Delhi, August 3: The BJP-led Opposition today staged a walk-out in the Lok Sabha demanding a ban on Coke, Pepsi and other soft drinks which contain pesticides and are proving hazardous to human health.

Except for the Congress, all the political parties in the treasury benches and also the supporting Left parties joined the chorus to demand a ban on soft drinks, even while suggesting more measures to ensure the safety of fast food, which has emerged as the choice of children.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi assured the members that the government was conscious about the findings of a study, conducted by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), that 11 soft drink brands have pesticides level much higher than the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) norms.

However, he denied the allegation of the Left members that there was a collusion between the government and the multinational soft drink companies.

''Parliament had passed a bill providing for food standard and safety a few days ago. Once the legislation is given assent to by the President, the government would notify appropriate measures to deal with complaints regarding pesticide content in water and soft drinks,'' Mr Dasmunsi said.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, SP's Ramjilal Suman cited the findings of the latest CSE study, which were released yesterday.

He was supported by the Opposition members and many from the treasury benches who together demanded a ban on soft drinks to ensure the health of the people, especially the children.

The members questioned the lack of a fool-proof system to check the pesticide level in soft drinks and bottled water even after a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) confirmed presence of pesticide in Coke following a study by the same NGO three years ago.

They alleged that the safety standards had been finalised but were being blocked by the government because of opposition by the multi-national companies manufacturing these soft drinks.

BJP Deputy Leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra said Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss' reaction to the CSE study yesterday that there was no need for an inquiry was 'highly condemnable.' The CSE study has found the presence of pesticides in 57 samples of 11 soft drinks from 25 different manufacturing plants of Coke and Pepsi were found to contain pesticides 24 times higher than the BIS norms.

In all, an average of three to five different pesticides were found in all the samples, which also included Heptachlor, a pesticide banned in India.

Demanding a ban on soft drinks, CPI's Gurudas Dasgupta said the government should have made it mandatory for the soft drinks companies to print on the bottle a list of ingredients.

He alleged that the multinational companies were violating all norms and this should not be allowed any further.

UNI

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