India's cola controversy

The short press conference would soon put the two cola bottlers in the spotlight, lead to an outcry from the floor of the Indian parliament and ignite protests all across the country. The cola bottlers are being inexorably drawn into a nation-wide controversy that shows no sign of abating. Assembly elections are to be held in three important states, with general elections six months away. Multinational-bashing, a favorite political pastime, appears inevitable.

The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the ruling BJP's youth wing, said that it would seek to "teach the two bottlers a lesson, threatening to launch a batli-todo [bottle breaking] agitation all over the country, if the government did not withdraw supplies of Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

The non-government organization's findings were immediately denounced by Sanjiv Gupta, president and CEO of Coca-Cola India and Rajiv Bakshi, chairman of Pepsi India, who said that the CSE report was "baseless" and that they were open to the idea of testing by an internationally-accredited independent laboratory. "Our products are tested by top-grade laboratories like the Wimta laboratory in Hyderabad [south India] and the T&O laboratory in the Netherlands. They are of world class and the same as what we sell in Europe and the US," they said by way of a joint declaration.

CSE tested 57 samples of 11 soft drink brands of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo collected from 25 manufacturing units across 12 states and claimed that all the bottles examined had a "cocktail of 3-5 different pesticides" which was 24 times above the standards finalized by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

While maintaining that its products comply with Indian and international regulations, PepsiCo has said it was open to work with CSE. "We are open to working with CSE and any other interested party to establish stricter science-based standards on finished products. We would welcome the opportunity to meet with CSE and any other interested party to discuss details of our methods and to gain a clearer understanding of theirs, to decide on a clear way forward in the interest of developing finished product standards for consumer safety," the company said.

CSE chief Sunita Narain has rejected the offer saying standards have been finalized and need to be implemented by the government. She has also accused the cola companies of pressurizing the government against implementation of the standards. According to Narain, Pepsi was trying to create confusion on the entire issue by raising the demand for "science-based" standards for finished products.

India Inc. has come out in support of the two soft drink manufacturers, stating that the ban of their products in several states across India, especially in Kerala was "arbitrary, avoidable and causing unnecessary panic."

Apex industry chambers like the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) have stated that the arbitrary decisions by the state governments could send a 'wrong signal' to global investors keen on entering the country. "Before revoking their licences, equal opportunity should have been given to them to clarify their stand," ASSOCHAM president Anil Aggarwal said, adding that the chamber has urged the Centre to frame comprehensive standards for ensuring the quality of cola drinks and other food items. "Banning these drinks is not a solution."