More Indian states ban colas

Two southern Indian states banned the sale of soft drinks produced by Coca-Cola and Pepsi on Wednesday after an environmental group said it had found pesticides in the global giants' products. While the coastal state of Kerala announced a blanket ban on the production and distribution of the two soft drinks, its neighbour Karnataka banned them from schools, colleges and hospitals. Three states previously imposed bans similar to the one in Karnataka after the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said it had found an average pesticide residue of 11.85 parts per billion in 57 samples of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo drinks produced in 12 Indian states. Those pesticide levels were 24 times higher than limits agreed, but not yet enforced. Last week, the Indian units of the two beverage companies said their drinks were safe and they held consumer safety paramount. The two companies have also published prominent newspaper advertisements to say pesticide levels in their products are below permissible levels and way below levels detected in other food products such as tea, eggs, grains, fruits and dairy products. In Karnataka, home to India's technology hub of Bangalore, officials said that under the ban, due to come into force on August 14, drinks could not be sold in schools, colleges, hospitals and anywhere in a 100 feet radius around them. According to Karnataka's primary and secondary education minister, this could have a bad effect on children's health and is the reason why soft drinks in schools have been banned. But other experts said moves to ban soft drinks were narrow and masked the big picture. Most Indian foods and beverages had high levels of pesticides, as the country was one of the world's largest manufacturer and consumer of such chemicals.