Containers carrying the beverages may have to carry a declaration that the level of pesticide residue is well within applicable standards
Granting a breather to Coca-Cola Co., the Supreme Court on Thursday refused to interfere with the statutory authority regulating aerated drinks but cleared the decks for mandating a declaration on containers that the level of pesticide residue in the drinks was as per permissible limits.
“In light of the legal regime, we are satisfied that...nothing more can be done by us in the matter,” said justice R.M. Lodha, heading the two-judge bench hearing the matter. The court said “soft drink bottles packaged or containers” may be ordered to have a declaration that “level of pesticide residue is well within the applicable standards”, as suggested by the Union government.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation by Sunil Mittal, originally filed in the Rajasthan high court, seeking a ban on the sale of Coca-Cola drinks citing such contamination.
Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd, the largest bottling partner of Coca-Cola Co. in India, had argued that the level of pesticide residue in the drinks was within permissible limits under India’s food safety and standards regulation.
“It does contain pesticide residue. It (pesticide) is permitted by law,” argued advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the bottler.
Responding to the judges’ query on the source of such residue, Singhvi said pesticides are present in the water used in the manufacturing and, hence, form a component of the drinks.
Coca-Cola India declined to comment on the matter.
Presence of pesticide residue in food and beverages is not prohibited as per the current standards laid down by the Food Safety and Standards (Contaminant, Toxins and Residues) Regulations, 2011. Permissible quantity of pesticides such as arsenic and D.D.T are mentioned in the regulation. The rules currently permit pesticide to the tune of 1 part per billion (ppb) in edible products.
“These are norms that most large beverage makers are following so it does not make sense (to) say that permissible levels are already present in a given product,” an industry expert said on condition of anonymity.
It is now up to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and the Union government to decide on requiring soft drink companies to add information on pesticide levels on their containers, he added.
The Union government made a submission to the Supreme Court that it will take up the issue of printed declarations with FSSAI, the statutory authority to decide on standards of food and related matters such as its manufacture, storage and distribution.
Referring to the gamut of laws and regulations for food products, the apex court bench refrained form interfering with FSSAI’s authority.
“We do not want to undertake a dexercise that is to be undertaken by the statutory authority,” said Lodha. The bench said FSSAI may make a provision that “additional declaration, (printed) in blocks stating that ‘pesticides are within permissible limits’ be carried on every pack of carbonated drinks”.
The Rajasthan high court had earlier directed Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages and PepsiCo India Ltd to include on each bottle, package or container of soft drinks a declaration that the drink did not contain pesticide residue or that it is safe.
The issue pertaining to presence of pesticides in aerated beverages was first raised by non-profit Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in 2003 when a lab report on soft drinks sold in India revealed high levels of pesticides and insecticides in them.
Market leaders Coca-Cola and Pepsi, CSE claims on its website, had almost similar concentrations of pesticide residue in their drinks.
This forced the government to constitute a joint parliamentary committee to find whether CSE’s claims were valid. CSE says on its website the panel vindicated its findings and said in a report that it was prudent to seek complete freedom from pesticides and residuals from carbonated beverages.
Following this, the health ministry notified standards for pesticides in carbonated water in India. “The health ministry has established standards for pesticides that can be allowed in colas and that has been made mandatory. Hence, the (court) proceedings are infructuous,” said Sunita Narain, director general at CSE, referring to the Supreme Court’s decision.
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