TORONTO – While Pepsi and Coca Cola are altering the way their soda is coloured to avoid labelling their cans with cancer warnings, the drink will stay the same in Canada.
A cloud of concern shrouded pop drinkers around the world after British reports said that the soda giants are changing their recipe to avoid placing cancer warnings on their labels under California law.
At the heart of the issue is the drink’s caramel colouring. An ingredient, 4-methylimidazole, or 4-MEI, allegedly poses a danger to those who drink cola, according to the U.S. Center for Science in the Public Interest.
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CSPI is an American consumer advocate group based out of Washington, D.C. It also has an office in Ottawa.
“Carcinogenic colourings have no place in the food supply, especially considering that their only function is a cosmetic one,” the CSPI said, calling on U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials to enforce changes.
But Diana Garza Ciarlante, a Coca Cola spokeswoman, said that reports of a recipe change are wrong.
“We are not changing our recipe or our formula. What we did do is direct our caramel suppliers to make a manufacturing process modification in order to reduce the level of 4-MEI in our caramel so as to meet the requirement set by the State of California,” she said in an email to Global News.
Under the State of California’s Proposition 65, food products containing more than certain levels of cancer-causing chemicals must be labelled. 4-MEI was added to the list in 2011.
While Coke and Pepsi complied with this law, spokespeople for both companies disagreed that their products are carcinogenic.
“The caramel colour in all of our products has been, is and always will be safe. That is fact. I think it’s important to stress to your readers that the 4-MEI levels in our products pose no health or safety risks. They never have,” Garza Ciarlante told Global News.
The American Beverage Association, in a statement, also accused CPSI of fear mongering.
“This is nothing more than CPSI scare tactics. In fact, findings of the regulatory agencies worldwide . . . consider caramel colouring safe for use in foods and beverages,” the association said.
California is the only state where the companies have advised caramel manufacturers to change their process.
It could be streamlined across the country, but there are no plans to make alterations to the manufacturing in Canada or Europe.
4-MEI forms during the heating, roasting or cooking process of soy sauce, caramel and molasses and is found in trace, the Canadian Beverage Association says.
Health Canada says it does not believe the levels of 4-MEI in food are a risk to Canadians, it said in a statement to Global News. On Monday, U.S. Food and Drug Administration stated, “A consumer would have to drink more than a thousand cans of soda in a day to match the doses administered in studies that showed links to cancer in rodents.”
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