BANGALORE: PepsiCo India has said soft drinks should not be subjected to random tests by various agencies, including government laboratories, till the Union Ministry of Health develops a validated test protocol by April 2007.

However, to prove the soft drinks are safe, PepsiCo India agreed to test of all major ingredients in its soft drinks — water, sugar and flavour — separately for pesticide residues in any laboratory.

`Below EU norms'

"If laboratories test each of our ingredients, the aggregate pesticide residue will be below the prescribed European Union norm of 0.5 particle per billion," Rajeev Bakshi, chairman, PepsiCo India, told The Hindu on Saturday.

Mr. Bakshi said there was no global standard for finished soft drinks.

As a result, results from different laboratories differed widely. Until the development of standards for finished soft drinks, the current EU standard for water should be followed.

Reaction to ban

Reacting to a ban on sale of soft drinks by the State Government in educational institutes and hospitals, Mr. Bakshi said, "We do not anyway encourage sale of soft drinks in primary schools."

To a question on whether the controversy had affected sales of the PepsiCo's products, Mr. Bakshi said it was too early to tell.

A company release said, "We recognise that our results are very different from those reported by the Centre for Science and Environment.

"While we believe in the science of our approach, we would welcome the opportunity to meet with Centre for Science and Environment and any other interested party to discuss details of our methods and gain a clearer understanding of theirs, to decide on a clear way forward in the interest of developing finished product standards for consumer safety."

Tests on other products

The release also referred to results of tests conducted by Vimta Labs,

Hyderabad, which found pesticide residues of over 0.5 ppb in certain brands of products such as biscuit, tea, coffee, atta and ghee.

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