Three months after warning about benzene in soft drinks factory's formulas
This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.
Alex Rodriguez
Brasília - Thousands of Brazilians who consume soft drinks may unknowingly be ingesting benzene, a carcinogenic substance. Although the association of consumer Test Pro have made the warning at the beginning of May, so far no action was taken or by the competent bodies or by businesses.
They do not deny the complaint and allege that meet the requirements contained in Brazilian legislation. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, "there is no official limit for benzene in soft drinks."
According to the coordinator of institutional Test Pro, lawyer Maria Inês Dolci, the initial goal of the organization was just reviewing the health and nutritional value of drinks.
To researchers' surprise, seven of 24 samples of different brands subjected to tests revealed evidence of benzene: Fanta Orange, Fanta Orange light; Sukita; Sukita Zero, Sprite Zero, Dolly Guarana and Dolly Guarana diet.
As the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa), responsible for control and inspection of products and services that involve a risk to public health, it imposes limits on the presence of the substance in soft drinks, the researchers relied on the legal parameters on the existence of benzene water to set a benchmark "acceptable" to human health.
Even by that criterion - that the Ministry of Agriculture considers "inappropriate" - the light and Fanta Orange Zero Sukita were rejected. In the case of Sukita Zero, the concentration of the substance exceeded four times the reference value.
Responsible for registering products, the ministry says that it is possible that benzene is formed from the reaction between benzoic acid, used as a preservative, and antioxidant ascorbic acid.
The likelihood of soft drinks containing benzene, however, the ministry merely informed that there are no official limits for the presence of "contaminant" in soft drinks, only checks if the acid and benzoic acid are used as permitted by Anvisa.
The agency, in turn, said that "the use of benzoic acid in soft drinks is allowed and that the Ministry of Agriculture should check the limits of use of such additives being respected" in granting the registration of the product.
In response sent to the Agency Brazil, no mention is made of benzene, although already in 2003 the very Anvisa has banned the manufacture, distribution and marketing of products containing the substance, characterized by the International Agency Research on Cancer (IARC) as "carcinogenic .
"The matter is serious. Many people consume soft drinks and have found that the presence of benzene in some drinks, there are a lot of responsibility of regulators and industry, "said the coordinator of Pro Test Agency Brazil.
"We hope that they adopt appropriate measures for the prohibition of the presence of benzene in beverages. We suggest that manufacturers replace one of the two acids of the industrial process and the competent bodies to develop specific legislation prohibiting the presence of benzene in soft drinks. "
In response sent to the Pro Test, the Coordinator-General of Wine and the ministry said it was raising information to manufacturers about which of them use the combination of benzoic acid and ascorbic acid, "which can cause the formation of benzene.
The Ministry assured that is taking "necessary steps to develop a methodology capable of detecting the presence of benzene in beverages.
Speaking on behalf of Coca-Cola (maker of Sprite Zero, Fanta Orange and Fanta Orange light), Ambev (Sukita; Sukita Zero) and the company's Dolly - sought by the report for comment and clarify whether, confirmed the complaint, any Providence had been taken - the Brazilian Association of Soft Drinks (Abir) said its members had access to research and can not comment on it.
The organization also reported that the products mentioned are registered and their components and formulas to meet all the requirements of the Brazilian health.
Source: Agência Brazil
This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.
Important:
The JurisWay site does not interfere in the work provided by doctrine, why only reflect the opinions, ideas and concepts of their authors.
