THE HEALTH Ministry’s expert committee has panned the Centre for Science and Environment's findings of high pesticide residues in soft drinks and said no action should be taken against their manufacturers.
"The expert committee set up by Health Ministry to examine the report by the CSE on pesticide level in soft drinks said the findings were inconclusive and we've asked the CSE for more information," Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss told Parliament on Tuesday. "We're not saying the report is wrong, but only that we need more information," he told HT.
Headed by Dr D. Kanungo, additional director general in the Health Ministry, the expert committee was set up on August 4 to examine "the methodology of sampling, methodology of testing and validity as well as the consistency of results derived by the CSE in its report".
The report said the scientific methodology used by the CSE to do the testing was faulty and it was not clear about how much cola was tested or where the samples were picked up from.
Confirmation of the presence of pesticides was not possible since the data recorded in most cases was inconclusive, it said.
{{/usCountry}}Confirmation of the presence of pesticides was not possible since the data recorded in most cases was inconclusive, it said.
{{/usCountry}}"A balanced approach has not been followed while undertaking the scientific review. The (CSE) report does not provide details about a number of pertinent points, which are required for the confirmatory interpretation of quantum results," said the committee's report.
It said not only did the sampling methodology lack "scientific and statistically valid basis" but the "residue data reported based on GC-Mass confirmation is inconclusive".
CSE director Sunita Narain said she was not surprised. "This is exactly what happened the last time," she said. "They're so crass and shameless that the ministry report quotes verbatim from the allegations made by the Coca-Cola-paid UK-based Central Science Laboratory.
This clearly shows the health minister's allegiance to the cola companies. The report is not just against the CSE but also the JPC that had examined our findings last year and supported them.”