Benzene Levels in Soft Drinks Above Limit

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Benzene Levels in Soft Drinks Above Limit

By LIBBY QUAID, AP Food and Farm WriterWed Apr 5, 8:35 PM ET

Cancer-causing benzene has been found in soft drinks at levels above

the limit considered safe for drinking water, the Food and Drug

Administration acknowledged Wednesday.

Even so, the FDA still believes there are no safety concerns about

benzene in soft drinks, or sodas, said Tarantino, the agency's

director of food additive safety.

" We haven't changed our view that right now, there is not a safety

concern, not a public health concern, " she said. " But what we need to

do is understand how benzene forms and to ensure the industry is doing

everything to avoid those circumstances. "

The admission contradicted statements last week, when officials said

FDA found insignificant levels of benzene.

In fact, a different study found benzene at four times the tap water

limit, on average, in 19 of 24 samples of diet soda.

Tarantino said chemists may have overestimated the amount of benzene

and that levels in diet soda were still relatively low compared with

other sources of benzene exposure.

The samples were collected as part of the FDA's ongoing Total Diet

Study, which looks for contaminants and nutrients in many foods and

beverages.

FDA has been doing a separate study of benzene in soft drinks, but it

is not ready to release the results, Tarantino said.

The Environmental Working Group has accused the FDA of suppressing

information about benzene in soft drinks.

" If they're so confident the situation is not a safety risk, they need

to release the data to prove it, " said Wiles, the group's

senior vice president. " The only data available to the public

contradict their claim. "

Benzene, a cancer-causing chemical linked to leukemia, can form

naturally and is found in forest fires, gasoline and cigarette smoke.

It's widely used in industrial production to make plastics, rubber,

detergents, drugs and pesticides.

Benzene can also form in soft drinks made with Vitamin C and sodium or

potassium benzoate. Heat, light and shelf life can affect whether

benzene will form, according to FDA.

A spokesman for the American Beverage Association said the amount of

soft drinks people consume is far less than the amount of tap water

they are exposed to.

" You can crunch the numbers any way you want; it's still adding up to

safe products, " said the spokesman, Keane. " We're going to

continue to work with FDA to ensure the safety of our products. "

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On the Net:

Food and Drug Administration:

http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/(tilde)news/whatsnew.html

Environmental Working Group: http://www.ewg.org

American Beverage Association: http://www.ameribev.org