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Pepsi, Coke dismiss charge of excess pesticides
New Delhi, Aug 05: Under attack over the alleged `excessive` presence of pesticides in their softdrinks, Pepsi and Coca-Cola today dismissed the charge as `baseless` and threatened to take legal action against an NGO.
New Delhi, Aug 05: Under attack over the alleged
"excessive" presence of pesticides in their softdrinks, Pepsi
and Coca-Cola today dismissed the charge as "baseless" and
threatened to take legal action against an NGO.
The multinational companies said the pesticide residues
in their products were well within the limits set by the
European Union for water used in products within public
domain.
"The report (of the Centre for Science and Environment)
is baseless and should be disregarded forthwith. We conform to
all norms and are open to all testing by an internationally
accredited independent laboratory and by experienced people,"
chairman of pepsico holdings Rajiv Bakshi and Coca-Cola India
president and CEO Sanjiv Gupta told a joint news conference.
The conference was hurriedly convened in the wake of a report released earlier in the day by Centre for Science and Environment which alleged the presence of pesticides in softdrinks manufactured by the two multinationals. Suspecting "motives" behind such report, they said "there may be a desire to create panic and deliberate scare behind the report".
"Our product is world-class and the same as we sell in Europe and US. These are tested by top-grade labs like Vimta in Hyderabad and TNO in Netherlands," they said.
Bureau Report
The conference was hurriedly convened in the wake of a report released earlier in the day by Centre for Science and Environment which alleged the presence of pesticides in softdrinks manufactured by the two multinationals. Suspecting "motives" behind such report, they said "there may be a desire to create panic and deliberate scare behind the report".
"Our product is world-class and the same as we sell in Europe and US. These are tested by top-grade labs like Vimta in Hyderabad and TNO in Netherlands," they said.
Bureau Report