Pepsi/Coke/India
I was listening to PRI’s The World on NPR last week and heard a piece on an Indian boycott of Pepsi and Coke beverages as they contained a high concentration of pesticides. This caught my attention as I believed any concentration of pesticides would raise a red flag. I went online to The New York Times and found an article on the subject. I quickly cut and pasted some of the original article as it has already been moved into the “Times Select” portion of the website (this is an aspect of The New York Times that drives me crazy, but hey, everyone’s got to make a buck, right?). Please read the following excerpt:
At least six Indian states imposed whole or partial bans on Coke and Pepsi after a research group said in a report on Aug. 2 that the soft drinks contained harmful levels of pesticides.
The parent companies, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, account for more than 80 percent of India’s $2 billion soft-drink market. Each company says that testing proves that its beverages are safe, and the companies have mounted major advertising campaigns against the report.
Hmmm…..”harmful levels of pesticides”, then crunching the numbers - ok, so Coke and Pepsi sell a lot of beverages……then the response……”mounting major advertising campaigns”? It seems as if Coke and Pepsi’s best campaign here would be to spend the money on making the beverages safe to drink. Then, jumping to the end of the article:
In 2003, the group said that soft drinks contained unacceptable levels of pesticide. Consumer organizations in India have urged the nation’s government to set stringent standards for pesticide levels, both in soft drinks and in milk and in food including grain. But officials in New Delhi have not yet acted on the report or set limits on such pesticide content.
In Palakkad in southern Kerala, formerly Palghat, people have campaigned to shut down local Coca-Cola operations, asserting that they were draining groundwater. Supporters of the campaign said they were happy that the government had banned the soft drinks. “If both the plants close down, about 800 people will lose their jobs,” said Shaji Karaukaveetil, an organizer of the action against Coke, “but millions of lives will be saved as these drinks are not safe.”
It could be argued that the problem of high concentrations of pesticides has been lingering in India since 2003. This is definately a cause for concern. The companies, nor the government, can argue that they were ignorant of the problems. The Indian government has the biggest liability by not regulating levels of pesticides in a large portion of staple foods that its citizens eat on a regular basis. Coke is also abusing the Indian environment by draining groundwater - another problem that the Indian government is overlooking.
I found this article on MSNBC:
The states acted after a Delhi-based NGO, the Centre for Science and the Environment, last week released a report showing Indian colas contain on average 24 times permitted pesticide levels.
…
Coke, which returned to India in 1993 after being forced out in the late 1970s, has 60 per cent of the domestic market, compared to 38 per cent for Pepsi and 2 per cent for local producers.
Pesticides at 24x the “permitted” level? This is crazy! Let me restate, there should not be a “permitted” pesticide level. Then, the article’s focus comes back to Coke’s profitability in India. Profitability for whom? Indian citizens? Yeah, the people with no ground water and pesticide ridden sugary softdrinks.
Finally, I found this little tidbit on this site physorg.com:
The Supreme Court of India last week ordered Coca-Cola and Pepsico to reveal the ingredients in their products or face a potential national ban.
Now, that’s the kind of action I was looking for from the Indian government. I hope that the pressure from the Supreme Court of India works to help shape up these gross abuses.
In the meantime, Pepsi will try to divert attention from the pesticide scandel by naming Indra Nooyi its new chief executive. Ms. Nooyi was born in Chennai and was #28 on Forbes’ list of the most powerful women in 2005. Not a bad rebound for a company whose image has been tarnished by pesticide levels and envionmental abuses. In the meantime, I will not be drinking either a Coke or Pepsi for a very long time.
August 22nd, 2006 at 10:58 pm
That\’s what an unregulated market gives you - reckless pursuit of profits at the expense of environmental and consumer safety. I will not be drinking that over-priced, immorally-marketed sugar water either.
August 23rd, 2006 at 9:05 am
Oh man…I must admit, Will and I are Coca Cola fans. But this is definitely a valid reason to stop drinking it for the sake of our health and to protest their horrible injustice to India.
On the other hand, for those who love the occasional soda, I found a wonderful alternative. Whole foods and Trader Joes sell natural organic cola (comes in root beer, cherry flavor, and a few others) that meets USDA standards for ‘organic’ AND contains no dyes, additives, and only raw sugar as its sweetening ingredient, not the high fructose syrup and other chemicals. (Yes, sugar can be harmful to your waistline and blood, but at least its in its natural form.) Its amazing to look at the natural soda’s ingredients and see only 1 or 2 chemicals, assumed for carbonation purposes. On the other hand, a pepsi bottle’s ingredients is mostly comprised of very scary, clinical sounding words…..
August 23rd, 2006 at 1:34 pm
I myself would be very interested in getting that soda in the rare instances where we feel like drinking it. We’ll have to keep our eyes out for it the next time we’re at TJ’s.
August 23rd, 2006 at 2:00 pm
PJ, there are various brands that sell all natural sodas at TJ or Whole Food. I am not sure which one tastes the best, or is the healthiest, but I think it is safe to assume that all of those brands are a million times better than any pepsi or coke product.
Because I work near a Whole Food location, I sometimes buy a can of the Whole Food brand soda with my lunch. It is 40 cents for a can and can be found in the refigerated section. I have to admit, the cola is not as tasty as a Coke, but when I look at the very few ingredients on the can, it assures me that I made the right choice. (The root beer and black cherry flavored colas are probably the best bet for taste.)
August 23rd, 2006 at 2:05 pm
I haven’t tried this particular brand of sodas, but reading this article makes me want to support their company over Pepsi or Coca Cola…
http://www.ota.com/healthybeverage.html
August 23rd, 2006 at 10:08 pm
Kellie: You make a really good point to find an alternative that works - even though it might not *taste* like what you are used to. I have heard that once you change your diet, your taste buds become accustomed to your new habits. Thus, we may come to think that organic soda is the ONLY way to go - we’ll see
August 24th, 2006 at 9:22 am
I’m looking forward to giving this a shot. It’s cheaper, healthier and has less calories. Seriously, what the hell were we doing buying Pepsi and Coke?
August 24th, 2006 at 11:07 am
It is refreshing to see many brands taking popular junk food and revamping it by making them with real ingredients, no preservatives, less fats, etc. I have discovered delicious (addicting) cheese puffs with half the calories, salt, and no weird chemicals or saturated fats in their ingredients. The same goes for chips, crackers, candy, etc! I love these ‘healthier’ alternatives. Sometimes its fun to snack, and its definitely more reassuring to know you are ingesting the freshest ingredients possible (taking into consideration that its still not the healthiest choice for a meal, of course.)
Going back to sodas, there are now quite a few brands that make natural sodas. Isn’t that great to know?! I have yet to discover the ‘best’ of the bunch, but can confidently say that the two brands I’ve tried so far were pretty satisfying and not too sweet.
October 1st, 2006 at 4:44 pm
[…] Since I recently found out that Pepsi and Coke products in India contained too many pesticides, I have been wondering how many other products I consume that contain harmful silent, deadly ingredients. […]
February 24th, 2007 at 8:01 am
i would love to know what an independent study shows for a random selection of these soda hear in the usa. i hope someone runs these test and makes them public.,VERY PUBLIC !
March 2nd, 2007 at 11:45 pm
Victoria: I agree with you. I would like to see tests of many more of the products that consumers use on a daily basis. I read this one on the NY Times today, U.S. Reviewing Safety of Children’s Cough Drugs. It looks like children’s medicines are not quite as “safe” as the FDA once thought. Scary to think that you may be giving your child something to make them “feel better” and may, in fact, be harming their health. Thanks for the comment.
January 5th, 2008 at 11:11 am
I just drank a “Natural Hansen’s Soda” from the “Cupboard” our local health food store. It claims to have no preservatives, sodium or caffeine. It also say it matches donations to City of Hope Breast Cancer Research up to a given dollar amount. I understand how presicides get in grains and vegetables–but what “real” ingredients do sodas “high fructose corn syrup” have that would cause the pesticide levels to be so high? Does Coke get the high fructose corn syrup it uses for production of Coke in India from India?
I drank Coke or Pepsi in Russia in around 1991. The Russian labeled product tasted different (worse) that the more expense English labeled product in the “foreign” stores. I alays thought the difference was the water. Bottled Russian water at the time had a crazy formula that was not H2O.
March 4th, 2008 at 3:24 am
There’s this company whose product was much better than pepsi but when pepsi and coke realised it, they even offered to buy it out for double the cost of setup, research etc… but the CEO said wait for five years and we will buy you out. On the first day of that company’s product launch they bought the full lot and broke all the 2,000,000 bottles and gave a three year contract to all the bottle manufacturers by sending out ghost buyers no bottles were returned and the company had to close down after three weeks. Which is this company and where was it opened does anybody know ?
March 22nd, 2008 at 2:05 am
PEPSI PRODUCT PURCHASED AT FAME RAJ MULTIPLEX SURAT IN GUJARAT
(india) IS OF THE WORST STANDARDS
NO ONE TO CHECK THE QUALITY — ONLY SWEET BROWN WATER IS BEING SOLD IN THE NAME OF PEPSI .
HORRIBLE TO DRINK.
November 12th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
p40m8gsp5jp7t2ct