Cola clean chit puts Govt on the dock.

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Cola row: LS members rap govt[ 22 Aug, 2006 1446hrs ISTPTI ] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1916407.cms RSS Feeds| SMS NEWS to 8888 for latest updates NEW DELHI: Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramdoss was grilled in

the Lok Sabha on Tuesday by members who charged that there was "total confusion" on the issue of pesticides in soft drinks and no clear-cut policy by the Government. In a short notice question, BJP member Uday Singh asked whether the government proposed to ban the manufacture and sale of soft drinks in the light of the report of the Centre for Science and Environment which claimed the presence of high level of pesticides in soft drinks. "Government has no clear-cut policy. We have total confusion," he said, adding that states were acting at their own behest. Refuting the charge that the government was "dithering", the minister said a high-level committee had been set up to advice on pesticide limits in carbonated beverages, fruits and vegetable juices and other finished products and the monitoring study would be completed by January, 2007. This would enable the government to prescribe comprehensive standards for carbonated water after

following due process of notification, he said. Not happy with minister's response, the BJP member said if the CSE report was right, then the government should ban manufacture and sale of soft drinks and if it was wrong, certain states which had decided to impose the ban should be told to lift it. Parasnath Yadav, Samajwadi Party member, said the soft drinks industry had suffered immensely, while party colleague Ram Prakash Verma accused the Government of "inaction". Describing CSE Director Sunita Narain as a "good friend", the minister thanked her for bringing the issue to Government's notice. It was not a question of "banning or not banning", Ramadoss said. The issue of level of pesticide was a short-term problem while health issue was the larger one. Global studies have concluded that carbonated drinks led to obesity, diabetes and even dental problems, he went on to add. While results from Gujarat and Mysore laboratories

on two samples of water and two of carbonated drinks have revealed that the pesticide residues were not above permissible level, directions have been issued to state and Central laboratories to lift more samples of carbonated drinks and test them, Ramadoss further said. 213 samples had been lifted so far from 14 states and sent for testing, he went on to say. Directors of Central Food Laboratories have also been asked to accept samples of carbonated water and packaged drinking water for checking the quality parameter including pesticide resides, the minister revealed. The minister said the health ministry constituted an expert committee to examine the CSE report. The committee held that there was no conclusive evidence on presence of different pesticides in the concentration reported. While standards have already been set for water, the onus was on the manufacturer to ensure that the pesticide residue level was not above maximum permissible

level, Ramadoss said. "Our ideal is not the spirituality that withdraws from life but the conquest of life by the power of the spirit." - Aurobindo.

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