Cancer causing chemical benzene in some soft drinks
By: Andrew Bridges
Associated Press
May 20, 2006
A government analysis of more than 100 soft drinks and other beverages
turned up five with levels of cancer-causing benzene that exceed federal
drinking-water standards, the Food and Drug Administration said Friday.
The companies that make the drinks have been alerted and either have
reformulated their products or plan to do so, the FDA said. Government
health officials maintain there is no safety concern, an opinion not
shared by at least one environmental group.
The five drinks listed by the government were Safeway Select Diet
Orange, Crush Pineapple, AquaCal Strawberry Flavored Water Beverage,
Crystal Light Sunrise Classic Orange and Giant Light Cranberry Juice
Cocktail. The high levels of benzene were found in specific production
lots of the drinks, the FDA said.
Benzene, a chemical linked to leukemia, 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.
The presence of those ingredients doesn't mean benzene is present.
Scientists say factors such as heat or light exposure can trigger a
reaction that forms benzene in the beverages.
Federal rules limit benzene levels in drinking water to 5 parts per
billion. A limited FDA analysis of store-bought drinks found benzene
levels as high as 79 parts per billion in one lot of Safeway Select Diet
Orange.
Teena Massingill, manager of corporate public affairs for Safeway, said
the company reformulated the drink before the FDA even contacted it.
"We looked at our own product and determined there was reformulation
needed on the diet orange soda," Massingill said. "We're quite clear that
there is no benzene issue any longer."
Kraft Foods Inc. stopped producing and shipping Crystal Light earlier
this year. The company reformulated the product and resumed shipping only
after testing showed benzene levels below one part per billion,
spokeswoman Elisabeth Wenner said.
Messages left seeking comment with representatives for Giant Food,
AquaCal and Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages, the maker of Crush, were
not immediately returned.
Dr. Laura Tarantino, director of the FDA's Office of Food Additive
Safety, said drinking sodas high in benzene does not pose a health risk.
"This is likely an occasional exposure, it's not a chronic exposure.
Obviously, no benzene is something someone wants to have, but the amount
of benzene you are getting in a soda is very, very small compared to what
you're being exposed to every day from environmental sources," Tarantino
said.
However, a spokesman for Environmental Working Group, which has accused
the FDA of suppressing information about benzene in soft drinks, saw the
results as a problem.
"FDA's test results confirm that there is a serious problem with
benzene in soda and juices," said Richard Wiles, senior vice president at
Environmental Working Group.
Tarantino said the FDA continued to study how benzene forms, including
the role heat plays, and ways of preventing it. The agency plans to
continue testing store-bought drinks as well, she added.
A spokesman for the American Beverage Association said the report
showed there was no health concern.
"But industry is working diligently to minimize the potential for the
formation of benzene to the greatest extent possible. We are trying to
push it down to as close as zero as we can get," spokesman Kevin Keane
said.
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