Odisha govt directs collection of soft drinks samples

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has asked additional district medical officers and city health officers to collect samples of soft drinks to find out the presence of heavy metals in different soft drinks being sold in the state.

“You are requested to direct your food safety officers for collection of samples for test and analysis and factual report on collection of sample of soft drinks may be reported to this office immediately,” said state food safety commissioner in a letter.

Lead and other heavy metals like Cadmium and Chromium have been found in the samples of five different soft drinks manufactured by two major multinational companies in India, union minister of state for health Faggan Singh Kulaste on Wednesday informed the Rajya Sabha.

Samples of five different cold drinks — Sprite, Mountain Dew, 7UP, Pepsi and Coca-Cola — were submitted to National Test House (in Kolkata) for testing.

Giving details of the study conducted by Kolkata-based All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health (AIIH&PH), Kulaste said that the AIIH&PH had entered into a pact with the National Test House (NTH) for testing and estimation.