Benzene Found in 5
Soft Drinks - FDA Tested 100 Sodas - Exceeds EPA Levels of Cancer
Causing Ingredients - List of Beverages
May 19th 2006
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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found benzene, a known carcinogen
for humans, in several soft drinks. The FDA says the levels are higher
than 5 parts per billion, which is the limit the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) allows for drinking water.
The FDA said that “although one sample from a production lot may contain
elevated benzene levels, it does not mean that all the products from
that lot will have elevated levels, or that all lots of a given product
will contain elevated levels."
The companies involved have been notified and have reformulated their
drinks or plan to comply with EPA standards. According to Forbes
reporter, Andrew Bridges, benzene is linked to leukemia and can form in
soft drinks containing two ingredients: Vitamin C, also called ascorbic
acid, and either of the two preservatives: sodium benzoate and potassium
benzoate.
According to Bridges, the FDA analysis of store-bought drinks found
benzene levels as high as 79 parts per billion in one lot of Safeway
Select Diet Orange. There were four other drinks that had high levels
of benzene. Here is the list of drinks provided by an ABC News report:
Safeway Select Diet Orange — one lot had 79.2 parts per billion
AquaCal Strawberry Flavored Water Beverage — one lot had 23.4 parts per
billion
Crystal Light Sunrise Classic Orange — one lot had 87.9 parts per
billion
Giant Light Cranberry Juice Cocktail — one lot had 10.7 parts per
billion
Crush Pineapple — one lot had 9.2 parts per billion
The FDA says that trace amounts of benzene do not post health risks.
Michelle Gillen, a CBS News reporter, says the FDA has long maintained
that there is no health risk to the public in the traces found, but it
now seems the government is retreating from that position. Richard
Wiles of the Environmental Working Group said “The FDA has published
papers that show that if drinks are stored for a week in a cabinet in a
kitchen, they can develop benzene levels that would be 50 times higher
than would be allowed in drinking water.”
Chicago CBS News affiliate reporter Mary Ann Childers says the beverage
industry claims you can't compare the water standard to soft drinks.
"That water standard is created and built on the presumption that
someone is going to drink two liters of water for 70 years," said the
American Beverage Association's Kevin Keane.
Dan Wilson
Best Syndication
Books on Dieting
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