NEW DELHI, 5 August 2006 — Rajasthan yesterday banned the sale of soft drinks as the country’s highest court told the US beverage giants Pepsico and Coca-Cola to reveal the ingredients of their products.
“The ban will be in force in all educational institutes, including medical and technical colleges and universities, and offenders would be punished,” said a Rajasthan government spokesman.
He argued that soft drinks producers were required to print statutory warnings on their products.
“Manufacturers are required to print ‘not only dangerous for human consumption, but also the quantity of the residues, if any, on each label,’” said spokesman K. Tiwari.
The Press Trust of India said the Punjab state assembly also removed soft drinks from the menu of its lawmakers beginning yesterday.
“The restriction will remain in force until the controversy regarding harmful ingredients in soft drinks is cleared,” said Assembly Secretary Nachhattar Singh Mavi.
Delhi government has also banned the sale of soft drinks in schools.
Federal MPs on Thursday demanded a nationwide ban on Pepsi and Coke after the privately-funded Center for Science and Environment (CSE) said 11 drinks sold by the two US companies contained unacceptable doses of pesticides.
Chhattisgarh Food Minister Nankiram Kanwar (Bharatiya Janata Party) said in Raipur: “It is surprising that millions of Indians are wasting money everyday on drinking pesticides. There must be a ban on such soft drink companies. The state government will educate masses that cold drinks contain pesticides.”
Campaigning against cola drinks, Congress Party General Secretary Ramesh Varlyani said: “The Congress seeks an immediate ban on the sale of adulterated cold drinks and appeal people to stay away from consuming them.”
On Thursday, hundreds of Youth Congress activists attacked a bottling plant of Pepsi Co. in Urla, on the outskirts of Raipur, ransacking the plant and crushing thousands of Pepsi bottles. Though the police have registered offenses against Congress members, the party said it will continue its campaign against soft drink companies.
A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court, meanwhile, gave the two firms a month to reveal the ingredients of their products, officials said.
The court reacted to a public lawsuit which argued products sold by both the firms were deeply laced with harmful chemicals such as phosphoric acid, caffeine and aspartame.
Pepsico and Coca-Cola have rejected the CSE’s report, saying customers’ interests were their paramount concern.
The Indian Soft Drink Manufacturers Association has said Pepsico and Coca-Cola are safe to consume. The two companies are members of this association. “The soft drinks manufactured in India comply with stringent international norms and all applicable national regulations,” the industry body said in a statement.
