After harmful toxins were found in soft drinks produced by two major multinational companies—PepsiCo and Coca Cola—in India, the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) has decided to test all soft drinks marketed in the country. “I am not very much aware of the developments in India as far as toxins in soft drinks are concerned. Even so, we will conduct tests on carbonated drinks of all brands marketed in the country,” BSTI Director General Iqramul Haque told The Independent.
The Indian government recently found five different toxins—heavy metals antimony, lead, chromium and cadmium and the compound DEHP or Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate—in PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles of five soft drink brands: Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Mountain Dew, Sprite and 7Up. These are produced by two major multinational companies, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola. The study was commissioned by the Drugs  Technical Advisory Board (DTAB), a body under the Indian health ministry.
The findings have become an issue of concern for Bangladeshis as the same products are available in the country as well.
“All the carbonated soft drinks are produced in our country, and some are owned by multinational companies. In the interest of public health, the BSTI authorities will test all the brands available in the market,” Iqramul Haque said in reply to a query.
Referring to the recent Indian tests on Maggi noodles, the BSTI chief said, “We didn’t find any harmful materials during our test of Maggi noodles in Bangladesh, although the Indian test report showed the presence of heavy metals.”
There are many soft drinks brands available in the market, including Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Mirinda, Mountain Dew, Diet Pepsi, Sprite and 7Up, which are marketed by both local and multinational companies in Bangladesh.
“First, we have to gather details about the Indian report on soft drinks. The BSTI authorities are always aware of the need to ensure public health while maintaining standards of food products,” Iqramul Haque said.
According to a report published by The Indian Express on October 6, the study commissioned by a top health ministry body, the DTAB, found that these toxins leached into five cold drink samples picked up for the study—Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Mountain Dew, Sprite and 7Up—from the PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles they were in. Mountain Dew and 7Up are owned by Pepsico, while Sprite is owned by The Coca-Cola Company.
The results of the Indian test, conducted in February–March this year, also show a significant increase in leaching with the rise in room temperature.
Under the DTAB’s instructions, the study was conducted by the Kolkata-based All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health (AIIH&PH), which is under the health ministry.
According to a source privy to the development, the test results were submitted by the AIIH&PH to Dr Jagdish Prasad, India’s director general of health services and chairman of the DTAB, a few days ago. Last year, the institute had submitted another set of test results, wherein it had found heavy metals in various medicines packaged in PET bottles.
A PepsiCo India spokesperson said, “We have received no intimation nor a copy of the cited test reports. We would be unable to comment on the reports without an understanding of the methodology used. Having said that, we would like to reiterate that all our products conform to Food Safety and Standards Regulations. We would like to emphatically reiterate that our products comply with the permissible limits for heavy metals as laid down by these regulations.”
Coca-Cola India declined to respond.
Queries sent to the PET Container Manufacturers’ Association remained unanswered.
The AIIH&PH had picked up four bottles (600 ml size) each of the cold drink brands as samples through the “stratified random sampling method”. The institute then handed over the samples to the Kolkata-based National Test House (NTH), which is under the consumer affairs ministry, to perform the tests.
While there are no permissible limits for heavy metals in cold drinks, the tests found 0.029 milligrams per litre (mg/L), 0.011 mg/L, 0.002 mg/L, 0.017 mg/L and 0.028 mg/L of antimony, lead, cadmium, chromium and DEHP respectively, in Pepsi. In Coca-Cola, 0.006 mg/L, 0.009 mg/L, 0.011 mg/L, 0.026 mg/L and 0.026 mg/L of the aforementioned heavy metals were respectively found. The results were similar for Sprite, Mountain Dew and 7Up.
The leaching of these heavy metals—from the PET bottles in which the drinks were packaged—increased with the rise in room temperature. For example, at normal room temperature, the tests found 0.004 mg/L and 0.007 mg/L of lead in 7Up and Sprite respectively. However, when it was kept at 40 degree Celsius for 10 days, the lead increased to 0.006 mg/L and 0.009 mg/L respectively. The World Health Organization (WHO) considers lead and cadmium to be two of the top 10 chemicals of “major public health concern”.
According to the WHO, children are particularly vulnerable to the deleterious effects of lead. “Lead can have serious consequences for the health of children. At high levels of exposure, lead attacks the brain and central nervous system to cause coma, convulsions and even death. Children who survive severe lead poisoning may be left with mental retardation and behavioural disorders,” it observes. For cadmium, the WHO says, “Cadmium exerts toxic effects on the kidney, the skeletal system and the respiratory system and is classified as a human carcinogen.”
Chromium, antimony and DEHP are also known to cause serious side effects in humans. In April 2015, Prasad is learnt to have directed the AIIH&PH to conduct a study on leaching of toxins from PET bottles used for packaging pharmaceutical preparations, cold drinks, alcohol, juices and other beverages.