The Centre took out the fizz from Pepsi and Coke as it told the Supreme Court that the beverage companies had refused to specify the ‘harmful ingredients’
NEW DELHI: The Centre on Friday sought to take out the fizz from the cola giants-Pepsi and Coke as it told the Supreme Court that the beverage companies had refused to specify the contents of the ‘harmful ingredients’ such as cholesterol and fatty acid on the bottles.
Responding to a PIL filed by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) seeking a ban on misleading advertisements by the cola giants, the government said the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and CIFTI and other manufacturing associations were discussing the issue.
The Government also said it had decided to defer implementation of the notification of August 21, 2006 on the issue by another eight months.
A bench of Justices AK Mathur and Dalveer Bhandari adjourned the hearing for four weeks asking CPIL's counsel Prashant Bhushan to file the rejoinder by then.
There was a need to carry out `well controlled study to assess the effects of consumption of carbonated drinks on health', the government added. It said the National Institute of Occupational Health at Ahmedabad would start a study on it soon.
Earlier, Pepsi's counsel KK Venugopal said a comprehensive Bill seeking to amend the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act was already pending before the Select Committee of Parliament. Incidentally, the Act addressed all the issues raised in this petition.
Another counsel Harish Salve said the CPIL's agenda was to target the two cola majors, Coke and Pepsi.
All additives used by the two companies were permitted ones but an impression was sought to be created that soft drinks per se were harmful, he added.
Counsel Bhushan referred to some scientific reports showing that the additives and preservatives were more harmful than tobacco.
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