The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : CPI (M) seeks ban on soft drinks

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Aug 06, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

CPI (M) seeks ban on soft drinks

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: The State unit of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Saturday urged the Government to immediately ban the sale of soft drinks manufactured by multi-national companies (MNCs) such as Coca Cola and Pepsico on the ground that the soft drinks contained high level of pesticides.

"Deadly pesticides"

In a statement here, the State CPI (M) secretary, N. Varadarajan, said the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) exposed in 2003 that the soft drinks contained "deadly pesticides exceeding the levels of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)."

The study undertaken by the CSE this year had shown that these soft drinks contained pesticides several times higher than the BIS standards.

Health problems

The findings also revealed that consuming these drinks would cause many health problems, he pointed out.

He urged the State Government to ask the Centre to ban sale of these soft drinks all over the country.

Asking the Government to promote tender coconut water and Palmyra sap consumption as "these are good for health," he said such a measure would also enhance employment.

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