Reuters/Los Angeles
Coca-Cola Co and PepsiCo Inc are making changes to the production of an ingredient in their namesake colas to avoid the need to label the packages with a cancer warning.
The change will not be noticeable to consumers, according to statements from both companies.
Coke and Pepsi said on Friday that they had asked their suppliers of the caramel colouring in their colas to alter their manufacturing process to meet the requirements of a California ballot initiative aiming to limit people’s exposure to toxic chemicals.
“Consumers will notice no difference in our products and have no reason at all for any health concerns,” said PepsiCo spokeswoman Gina Anderson in a statement.
The change is meant to reduce the amount of a chemical called 4-methylimidazole, or 4-MI, which in January was added to the list of chemicals covered by California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, also known as Proposition 65.
High levels of that chemical have been linked to cancer in animals.
The California statute says that “no person in the course of doing business shall knowingly and intentionally expose any individual to a chemical known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity without first giving a clear and reasonable warning ...”
Coca-Cola spokesman Ben Sheidler said the modification to the manufacturing process will have no effect on the formula, colour or taste of Coca-Cola.
Both companies said they started in California, and would expand the use of the reduced 4-MI caramel colouring over time.
Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc said all the caramel colour being produced for it meets the new California standard.
Earlier last week, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a US watchdog group, said it found unsafe levels of the chemical in cans of Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, Dr Pepper and Whole Foods Markets Inc’s 365 Cola.
The US Food and Drug Administration said at the time it was reviewing the group’s petition but stressed that the drinks were still safe. An FDA spokesman said a person would have to drink “well over a thousand cans of soda a day to reach the doses administered in the studies that have shown links to cancer in rodents”.
Shares of Coke and Pepsi were both up less than 1% in afternoon trade, roughly in line with the Standard & Poor’s 500 index. Dr Pepper Snapple shares were up 1.1% at $38.12.
US defends treated meat in school meals
The US Department of Agriculture is defending the use of ammonium-treated beef, dubbed “pink slime” by detractors, in meals destined for US schoolchildren as part of the national school lunch programme.
The Internet news source The Daily reported last week that 7mn lb (3.2mn kg) of the product - beef trimmings treated partly with ammonium hydroxide to fight contamination - would appear in school lunches this spring.
“All USDA ground beef purchases must meet the highest standards for food safety,” the agency said in a statement.
“USDA has strengthened ground beef food safety standards in recent years and only allows products into commerce that we have confidence are safe.”
Fast-food chain McDonald’s stopped putting the USDA-approved ammonium-treated meat into its hamburgers in August after a number of food activists, including celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, drew attention to the additive.
The USDA, schools and school districts plan to buy the treated meat, categorised as “lean fine textured beef,” from South Dakota’s Beef Products Inc for the national school lunch program.
The BPI product makes up about 6.5% of the 112mn lb (51mn kg) of ground beef that has been contracted for the National School Lunch Program, the USDA said. The department oversees the programme, which buys about 20% of products served in US schools. The rest is bought directly by schools or school districts.