Post by mike on Mar 2, 2006 22:00:53 GMT -5
Cancer chemical found in soft drinks
Traces of a carcinogenic chemical have been found in soft drinks at eight times the level permitted in drinking water.
Tests on 230 drinks on sale in Britain and France found high levels of the cancer-causing compound benzene, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) said.
The chemical, used to make glues, paints and detergents, and also found in car exhaust fumes, has been linked to leukaemia and other cancers of the blood.
Sustain, a food standards pressure group, said the industry should "come clean" on what it knew about Benzene in its products. Richard Watts, a spokesman, said: "The limit in drinking water is one part per billion.
Why should this be any different for soft drinks?"
news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article348765.ece
Traces of a carcinogenic chemical have been found in soft drinks at eight times the level permitted in drinking water.
Tests on 230 drinks on sale in Britain and France found high levels of the cancer-causing compound benzene, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) said.
The chemical, used to make glues, paints and detergents, and also found in car exhaust fumes, has been linked to leukaemia and other cancers of the blood.
Sustain, a food standards pressure group, said the industry should "come clean" on what it knew about Benzene in its products. Richard Watts, a spokesman, said: "The limit in drinking water is one part per billion.
Why should this be any different for soft drinks?"
news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article348765.ece