Coca-Cola and Pepsi Alter Recipes to Avoid Censure over “Cancer” Fears

The companies said the changes will be expanded nationally to streamline their manufacturing processes. The changes have already been made for drinks sold in California. A consumer would have to drink more than 1,000 cans a day to reach the doses administered that have shown links to cancer in rodents.

Mar 9 2012 --- The two leading soft drinks manufacturers have been forced to change the recipes for their signature products as a result of a California law that mandates drinks containing a certain level of carcinogens bear a cancer warning label.

Coca-Cola and Pepsi both confirmed the changes will be expanded nationally to streamline their manufacturing processes. The changes have already been made for drinks sold in California.

The American Beverage Association said that California added the coloring to its list of carcinogens with no studies showing that it causes cancer in humans. It noted that the listing was based on a single study in lab mice and rats.

The study found that a consumer would have to drink more than 1,000 cans a day to reach the doses administered that have shown links to cancer in rodents.

The change comes after the pressure group the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) began pushing regulators to force manufacturers to remove a chemical used to make caramel color in cans of Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc's Dr. Pepper, and Whole Foods' 365 Cola.

The group asked the Food and Drug Administration to ban caramel coloring agents that contain the chemical known as 4-methylimidazole, or 4-MI. This follows a similar plea last year.

Earlier in the week, CSPI executive director Michael Jacobson said  "Coke and Pepsi, with the acquiescence of the FDA, are needlessly exposing millions of Americans to a chemical that causes cancer... if companies can make brown food coloring that is carcinogen-free, the industry should use that."

The American Beverage Association, which represents the broader industry, said its member companies will continue to use caramel coloring in certain products but that adjustments were made to meet California's new standard.

"Consumers will notice no difference in our products and have no reason at all for any health concerns," the association said in a statement.

A representative for Coca-Cola, Diana Garza-Ciarlante, said the company directed its caramel suppliers to modify their manufacturing processes to reduce the levels of the chemical 4-methylimidazole, which can be formed during the cooking process and as a result may be found in trace amounts in many foods.

"While we believe that there is no public health risk that justifies any such change, we did ask our caramel suppliers to take this step so that our products would not be subject to the requirement of a scientifically unfounded warning," Garza-Ciarlante said in an email.

The Centre for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy group, in February filed a petition with the US Food and Drug Administration to ban the use of ammonia-sulfite caramel coloring.

A spokesman for the Food and Drug Administration said the petition is being reviewed.