The Hindu : Business : Pepsi working with Coke to measure pesticide levels

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 19, 2006
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Pepsi working with Coke to measure pesticide levels

Special Correspondent

`Safety and quality of products single highest priority'

Indra Nooyi

NEW DELHI: Reiterating her company's position that its products in India were safe and that it was ready to abide by any Government standards, PepsiCo President and CEO, Indra K. Nooyi, on Monday revealed that her company was working with rival Coca-Cola to develop a scientific method to test pesticide residues in beverages and other products.

"I personally stand behind each product we sell. They are the best in the world," Ms. Nooyi said, asserting at an American Chambers of Commerce conference that safety and quality of products were the "single highest priority for PepsiCo". Later, addressing the media during her first visit to India after moving to the top position in the global food and beverage giant, she said, "We have very rigorous standards of quality and safety and the standards followed in India are the same as those followed in other global markets such as New York, London or Beijing."

In the context of the pesticide-in-cola controversy that rocked the Indian cola industry this summer and three years ago, she contended that the company's products were safe "as validated by tests in government labs".

"We are working in close cooperation with the Indian government, which has been tasked with establishing science-based safety standards for pesticides across the food supply, a mission we wholeheartedly support," she said.

Since there were no validated methods to test the pesticide levels in finished products, she said that the company was working together with Coca-Cola to devise "a break-through science-based method to reliably and consistently measure the levels in finished products".

On the charges of cola companies depleting ground water levels, Ms. Nooyi said that in India, industry accounted for about six per cent of the total water usage and the share of bottled or soft drink manufacturers in it accounted for 400th of one per cent.

She acknowledged that water was a precious resource and the company was making efforts to reduce its usage as also support water conservation initiatives.

Pepsi, she said, was making efforts to reduce fats and sugars in its products portfolio and would introduce an "exciting innovation" in its product line.

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