Pepsi says its products are safe

New Delhi, Aug 12 (UNI) A day after Kerala government ordered ban on its production, distribution and sales, Pepsi-Cola India today said its products are safe and comply with most stringent Indian and international regulations, including Health Ministry's recent regulations for carbonated soft drinks.

''On aggregating residue levels in each input which goes into soft drinks, our results indicate that we are consistently within the most stringent 0.5 ppb limit of total pesticide residue (EU water norms),'' PepsiCo said in a statement here.

''We are open to stricter regulations in the interest of consumer safety.

''While we are already working with the government, we are open to also working with CSE and any other interested party to establish stricter science-based standards on finished products,'' it said.

The company claimed that it follows one quality standard across the globe. ''Over the last few years in the interest of giving consumers further assurance of safety we have been working with international experts on the subject.

''The safety of our products result from carefully restricting, and testing for pesticide residues in our ingredients, an approach endorsed by authoritative bodies that regulate agricultural residues around the world.'' The company said it would welcome the opportunity to meet with the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), and any other interested party to discuss details of its methods and to gain a clearer understanding of theirs, ''to decide on a clear way forward in the interest of developing finished product standards for consumer safety.'' In fact, the company said, it had worked extensively with the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) International over the last three years to develop an accredited, internationally-recognised finished beverage analytical method that will very clearly prove the purity of its products.

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