Soft drinks do contain pesticides
the Joint Parliamentary Committee (jpc) has finally delivered its verdict. Affirming that the Centre for Science and Environment's (cse) findings about the presence of pesticide residues in aerated water were correct, the panel dismissed as hot air soft drink manufacturers' claims that their products are safe.
It was cse which blew the lid off the matter when it released a report on pesticide residues in 12 major cold drink brands sold in and around Delhi (see: "COLANISATION'S DIRTY DOZEN", Down To Earth, August 15, 2003). cse had pointed out that regulations for pesticide levels in soft drinks are weak in the country. Neither the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954, nor the Fruit Products Order explicitly deals with the subject. The study also highlighted the fact that India has no standards to define