Friday, July 5, 2013

Pepsi carcinogen: Watchdog group finds high levels of carcinogen in Pepsi

http://www.examiner.com/article/pepsi-carcinogen-watchdog-group-finds-high-levels-of-carcinogen-pepsi
In the month of March, California passed a law mandating that drinks carry a cancer warning label for containing a certain level of carcinogens. When the law passed, PepsiCo Inc. and Coca-Cola Co. had to adjust their formulas in the drinks sold in California to meet the new levels.
The caramel coloring used in the cool drink had led to dangerous levels of carcinogen.
The watchdog group tested and found that Coke products no longer test positive for the chemical but Pepsi products sold outside California still contain the chemical 4-Mel in its caramel.
Coca-Cola said that they modified the caramel throughout U.S. market beyond California so that they wouldn't have to have separate inventory for different locations.
Pepsi said that FDA and other regulatory agencies around the world consider their caramel coloring safe. However its caramel coloring suppliers have started changing their manufacturing process which reduces the levels of carcinogen.
This process had completed in California and will be finished in February 2014 in the rest of US. Pepsi said that it will take the process globally, but did not indicate a timeline.
4-Mel traces have not been linked to causing cancer in humans. The American Beverage Association said the chemical was added by California to the list of carcinogens with no concrete studies but it was based on a single study in lab on mice and rats.
FDA has said that one has to drink more than 1,000 cans of soda per day to reach
carcinogenic levels.


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