INDIA: Soft drinks pass tests in West Bengal - report

By just-drinks.com editorial team | 17 August 2006

Coca-Cola and Pepsi have received welcome news in the row over pesticides in India after one state ruled that their products are safe, according to local reports.

The West Bengal state government had arranged for samples of both companies' products to be sent to different laboratories in the state for testing, a report in The Hindu newspaper said today (17 August).

A local government official was quoted as saying that preliminary tests on the samples showed the products were safe.

The news comes after seven Indian states banned the sale of Coke and PepsiCo brands from government-run schools and colleges. The bans came just days after the publication of a report last week claiming that 11 brands owned by the two drinks giants contained more pesticide than permitted levels.

Both Coke and Pepsi have strenuously maintained that their company's products are safe.

A spokesperson for Coke in Atlanta said: "Obviously we're confident in the quality of our products and if additional tests show that quality, then that wouldn't surprise us."

She told just-drinks that Coke's Indian office was continuing to lobby state governments that had enacted bans to reassure them of the safety of its products.

Sectors: Soft drinks, Water

Companies: Coke, PepsiCo