NEW DELHI: The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on Wednesday said the methodology used by the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry experts to give the cola companies a clean chit was a "complete junk." Reacting to Health Minister A. Ramadoss' statement that colas were safe, CSE director Sunita Narain said the Government tested only two bottles of cola to arrive at the conclusion.

The report of this test had not been made public and another 28 bottles have been allegedly tested in Gujarat, for which no details were available. "This is dangerous, as it amounts to misleading us about the health impacts of these drinks. These very drinks, we had found, exceeded the pesticide residue limits up to 50 times," Ms. Narain said.

Without public disclosures, the Ministry's report was not credible, and predictably, the cola companies seized this opportunity to claim that their products were safe, she said.

The methodology for testing the two bottles had not been revealed. The CSE, on the other hand, tested 57 bottles, collected from 12 States, representing 30 per cent of the bottling plants.

These bottles were tested using a methodology, which, three years ago, was examined and endorsed by a Joint Parliamentary Committee. Moreover, the presence of pesticide residues was additionally confirmed with GC-MS. "The intention of the Health Ministry to debunk the CSE's study and clear the cola companies is obvious and disgraceful," Ms. Narain said.

Pointing out that the report of the experts committee was "vague, misleading and factually incorrect," Ms. Narain charged that the report had been written with just one purpose— insinuating and picking holes in the CSE study and discredit it.

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