New Delhi: Uncle Sam has come to the rescue of the Cola giants. The US has reportedly urged the Indian Government to treat PepsiCo and Coca-Cola Co fairly in the issue surrounding the alleged pesticide content in their products.
New tests had found that eleven soft drink brands, which in 2003 were found to contain pesticide residues, still contained a dangerous level of toxins, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) had reported more than a month ago.
The CSE’s report in 2003 had led to a joint Parliamentary probe into the matter, and on August 2 the NGO claimed the soft drinks were still not clean.
Following CSE’s reports many states had imposed partial bans on Coca-Cola and Pepsi products by prohibiting sales at or near schools, colleges and hospitals.
According to the agency reports, the US government’s under-secretary for International trade, Franklin Lavin, has written to Indian officials expressing his confidence that they will deal with the soft drinks giants on a level playing field.
The letter is the first public move by the US government to intervene on behalf of Pepsi and Coke, which have been embroiled in a row over the sale of their products in India for over a month.
The companies have seen a number of Indian states ban their products after a report in July claimed 57 samples of Coke and Pepsi brands had been found to contain 24 times more pesticide than permitted.
Most states only banned the sale of the drinks in government-run offices, schools and colleges but one, the state of Kerala, enacted a state-wide ban.
India’s federal government has voiced its criticism of the report from the New Delhi-based CSE but the states have refused to lift the bans, saying Pepsi and Coke products are unsafe, an accusation both firms deny.
Last weekend, Pepsi reportedly launched a fresh defence of its business in India with a televison advertisement that features the head of its local operations denying its products are unsafe.
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