Guj gives clean chit to colas

Gujarat Government today gave a clean chit to Coca-Cola and Pepsi, saying it did not find any pesticide residues in the samples it tested.

Gujarat has given a clean chit to Coca-Cola and Pepsi, saying it did not find any pesticide residues in the samples it tested.

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"We tested samples to ascertain the presence of pesticides under the category of orgeno-chlorine such as DDT, lindane and chloropyriphos," said Gujarat's commissioner of Food and Drugs Control Administration (FDCA) SP Adeshra.

"But none of the samples were found to have traces of any of these pesticides."

Last month, the New Delhi-based NGO Centre for Science and Environment said it had found harmful levels of pesticides in soft drinks manufactured by Coca-Cola and Pepsi, shocking Indians.

The Gujarat government then sent samples drawn from across the state as well as neighbouring regions to the Food and Drugs Laboratory, Vadodara, for analysis.

The brands included Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Thums-Up, Fanta, Limca, Mountain Dew, Seven Up and Mirinda.

Adeshra said the samples were drawn from bottling plants at Goblej, Naroda, Jhagadia and Kalol in Gujarat; Thane and Pune in Maharashtra and Narsinhgadh in Madhya Pradesh.

Gujarat is one of India's most industrialised states.