California Authorities Forced Coca-Cola And Pepsi [change Recipes]

California authorities forced Coca-Cola and Pepsi [change recipes]

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo will change their drink recipes to avoid the need to warn California shoppers about carcinogens in the product. State authorities have listed 4-methylimidazole found in Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola, as well as in their dietary options, as carcinogens.

Illustration from the site fridayfunfacts.com /

The Coca-Cola and PepsiCo companies will change their drink recipes to avoid the need to warn consumers about carcinogens in products, the Associated Press reported.

The changes are related to a new California law that classifies 4-methylimidazole, used in the caramel color of Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola, as a carcinogen. Coca-Cola will ask its caramel suppliers to change their preparation process so that less of the substance is produced. At the same time, the company draws attention to the fact that, in its opinion, the cola does not carry a health risk that would justify changing the recipe.

High levels of 4-methylimidazole in Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola and diet versions of these drinks were found by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which has been trying to ban ammonia sulfite caramel colors since February 2011.

"Cola and Pepsi, with the approval of the FDA, unnecessarily expose millions of Americans to a chemical that causes cancer. This color is completely cosmetic and does not add anything to the taste of the drink. If companies can produce a brown food color without carcinogens, they should do it, "the Center said in a statement. As an example, the Center cites Dr. Pepper drinks, which contain several times less 4-methylimidazole than Coca-Cola and PepsiCo products.

In response, the American Beverage Association announced that the Science Center was trying to "bully" cola producers. "In fact, science simply does not prove that 4-methylimidazole in food or drink poses a threat to human health," the association said in a statement.

The association also notes that California has listed 4-methylimidazole as a carcinogen without relying on research to prove it causes cancer in humans.

"A person must drink 2,900 cans of cola every day for 70 years to reach the minimum dose that caused swelling in rats in the study that the California authorities relied on to ban," the association says. The Food and Drug Administration said the same, Bloomberg reports.

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo together account for nearly 90 percent of the US carbonated beverage market. According to the assurances of representatives of the companies, changes in the recipe will not affect the taste of the soda.