Pesticide in Cold Drinks
The cold drinks we take in India contains pesticides. Snakes, tiny bits of metals, dirt, frog have all been found in cold drinks! Yes, I mean the cold drinks like Coca Cola, Pepsi, etc. The bottles are found not being washed properly. It is not the attempt of media to defame the MNC’s but the lack of proper care of bottling the soft drinks is the main cause.
The Bureau of Indian Standards (B.I.S.) are testing these samples. The maximum residue limit has been set at 0.1 ppb (parts per billion) for individual pesticide and 0.5 ppb for total pesticide content. The pH level (acid-base level) in soft drinks has been fixed at 2.3 to 8.5. The caffeine limit in soft drinks have been fixed at 145 mg/liter.
Center for Science and Environment (CSE) found a cocktail of 3 to 6 pesticides in all samples. The average amount of pesticide is 24 times higher than B.I.S. standard. Pepsi contained 30 times higher residues on an average. Coca cola contains 27 times higher residue on an average.
The brand break-up of the pesticide content shows that Coca cola contains the most pesticide content and Pepsi Cafechino has the least pesticide content. The brand break-up in ppb (parts per billion) are as follows:
Pepsi Cola
15.2
Coca cola
13.4
Seven Up
12.5
Thums Up
10.9
Mirinda Orange
10.7
Duke Lemonade
10.9
Mirinda Lemon
8.1
Limca
6.7
Fanta
9.1
Mountain Dew
7.0
Pepsi Cafechino
Among the total pesticide found in 18 cities in India, Kolkata is on the top and Guwahati is in the bottom of that list. Kolkata has a pesticide content in cold drinks of about 51.7 ppb. The pesticides causes irreparable harm to the human body. It has been shown time and again that these pesticides can be used to kill bacteria in bathrooms. The acidic content of these drinks are harmful to the human body has been shown in investigative news program like Khoj Khabar (Find News).
The pesticide in cold drinks will compel the parents to order their children to stop taking these things. It is for the wellbeing of the family that these surveys are done. It loudly proclaims the fact that the commercial drinks are not advisable. It is better if we take fruit juice, which is more healthier than these acidic drinks.