Cancer chemical benzene in soft drinks in the UK; no such fears in the US

Cancer chemical benzene in soft drinks in the UK; no such fears in the US

The Food Standards Agency in the UK has revealed that it has found high levels of the cancer-causing chemical benzene in four soft drinks currently available in the country. Two of these manufacturers have already started pulling off their products from the shelves and the FSA has called on the other two companies to do the same. The agency said that tests on 150 varieties of soft drinks had not indicated the presence of benzene in high levels.

"We did this survey to get a clearer picture of whether benzene was present in any soft drinks on sale in the UK and at what levels," said Dr Andrew Wadge, the Director of Food Safety at the FSA. "We found that levels in the vast majority of products tested were low and not a cause for concern. However we are concerned about the levels in four drinks and have asked their manufacturers to remove the affected batches from sale."

The limit of benzene permitted in drinking water in the UK is one part per billion, while the World Health Organization's limit is 10 ppb. Among the four drinks found to contain high levels of benzene were Co-op's low-calorie bitter lemon drink, which had an astounding 28ppb of benzene. Other drinks were Morrisons' no-added sugar pineapple and grapefruit crush, Popstar's still sugar-free lemon and lime drink and Hyberry's no-added sugar blackcurrant squash.

Co-op and Morison's have pulled their drinks from the shelves. Benzene is formed in soft drinks when sodium benzoate and ascorbic acid interact with each other. High levels of benzene have been implicated in certain cancers, most notably leukemia or blood cancer. However, the FSA said that people who have already had these drinks need not panic, "Whilst it is important that industry take action, people should not be alarmed if they have drunk these products," Dr Wadge said. "The levels of benzene reported in this survey will only make a negligible impact on people's overall exposure to benzene and so any additional risk to health is therefore likely to be minimal."

Meanwhile, the US Food and Drug Administration has revealed that there is no cause for such concern in that country. Robert E. Brackett, the director of Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the FDA said that most drinks that were sampled had benzene levels under control. "The vast majority of beverages sampled contain either no detectable benzene or levels below the limit for drinking water, and do not suggest a safety concern," he said.