New Delhi, Oct 20: The Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore, and Central Food Laboratory (CFL), Kolkata, were today asked by the JPC to explain why their sample test results on pesticide residues in soft drinks were at variance with the ones conducts by the Centre for Science and Environment. The officials of the two institutes told the JPC, looking into the pesticide residues in soft drinks and other products containing water, that they were not the same samples that were tested by the CSE, sources said.


Following the observation by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) that pesticide level in water in soft drinks in India were high, two sets of samples were sent to CFTRI and CFL for analysis.


Both the laboratories observed that malathion, which was alleged to be 87 times the EU limit as per the CSE report, was found to be totally absent in all the samples.
Health Minister Sushma Swaraj had told Parliament that following the CSE report, government collected samples for analysis from the market for the 12 brands of soft drinks belonging to the same bottling units from which CSE had collected the samples.

CFTRI reported that out of 12 samples, pesticide residues were below the EU limits in three samples. In the remaining nine, they were found above the limits.


An analysis on the number of times the residues are higher varying from 1.2. to 5.22.
Bureau Report