Indian MPs back pesticide-cola claim

[dArKeR]

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo sold soft drinks containing pesticides harm-ful to human health and misled India's 1 billion people over claims that their products were safe for human consumption, Indian mem-bers of parliament (MPs) concluded on Wednesday.

Their report recommended strin-gent new regulations for fizzy drinks which would "seek complete freedom from pesticide residues aerated beverages."

An estimated seven bottles of cold drinks are sold to every Indian each year in a market worth ?900 million (US$1.6 billion). Coca-Cola and PepsiCo account for more than 80 percent of the market.

The row between soft-drink makers and campaigners erupted last summer when a Delhi-based environmental group, the Center for Science and Environment (CSE), claimed that Coca-Cola and PepsiCo products manufactured in India contained toxins far above the norms permitted in the developed world.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/worldbiz/archives/2004/02/06/2003097701

[Native]

1. So they're using local water that is contaminated,

but the government isn't responsible? Am I reading this correctly?