Benzene fears prompt call for banning some soft drinks at schools

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradent...n/14199793.htm

Posted on Mon, Mar. 27, 2006
Benzene fears prompt call for banning some soft drinks at schools
By David Goldstein
Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON - Some leading public-health experts want education
officials to ban certain soft drinks from public schools until they're
proved safe and free of the cancer-causing chemical benzene.

"It is irresponsible to provide to schoolchildren products that are
unhealthy and may contain a carcinogen," they said in a letter sent
last week to state education officials.

Benzene is a common industrial chemical that the Environmental
Protection Agency classifies as a human carcinogen. Long-term exposure
can cause leukemia and other blood cancers, according to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.

Benzene isn't an ingredient in soft drinks, but it can form when two
commonly found ingredients react: ascorbic acid, otherwise known as
vitamin C, and the preservatives sodium benzoate or potassium benzoate.
The reaction can happen when products are exposed to light or heat.

"Soft drinks that contain ascorbic acid and sodium or potassium
benzoate include Diet Pepsi Wild Cherry, Fanta Orange, Hawaiian Punch,
Mug Root Beer, Pepsi Vanilla, Sierra Mist, Sunkist and Tropicana
Lemonade, among others," the letter said.

The signatories, who included experts in pediatrics and activists for
student health, asked that state and local education officials halt the
marketing and sales of certain soft drinks in schools "until you can
look parents in the eye and assure them that their children will suffer
no harm."

Kevin Keane, a spokesman for the American Beverage Association, the
trade group that represents soft-drink manufacturers, said the letter
was "irresponsible and reckless" and that the group behind the letter,
Commercial Alert, has a history of "bashing" industry.

"It would be gullible for schools to bite on this letter," Keane said.
"The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has given no indication there
is a public health concern here. We are working with the FDA. There is
no way we would put any product in schools or anywhere that is unsafe."

The possible presence of benzene in soda, juice drinks, sports drinks
and bottled water became a concern recently when testing found that
some products had levels two to four times higher than is considered
safe in drinking water.

The high levels surprised the FDA and the beverage industry. Benzene
first turned up in soft drinks 16 years ago, but the FDA never told the
public because the industry assured federal regulators that it would
solve the problem.

George Pauli, a top FDA food-safety official, said the overwhelming
majority of test samples showed either no benzene at all or levels that
were considered safe. The agency hasn't made any test results public.

"It doesn't seem to be a big issue, but it's an issue that needs to be
fixed," Pauli said.

He said manufacturers were reformulating some products or taking other
steps to ensure their safety.

"Where we've seen elevated levels, we contacted them," Pauli said.
"Generally speaking, there's no trouble getting commitments to do
something. The worst thing for these companies is bad publicity."

Dr. David Ozonoff, former chairman of the Boston University School of
Public Health and a signatory to the letter, said that even if the risk
of becoming ill from benzene were as small as one in a million, "if you
have millions and millions and millions of kids drinking soft drinks,
which you do, the risk of one in a million suddenly starts to be real
kids.

"We recognize that's a problem in drinking water," said Ozonoff, who
teaches environmental health. "If you take the same water, add
artificial color, sugar and flavor, it doesn't make the risk go away."

Commercial Alert is a nonprofit advocacy group that campaigns against
commercialism aimed at children. Among those who signed the letter were
physicians and public health experts associated with the Harvard
Medical School, the Yale School of Public Health and the American
Academy of Pediatrics.

History and Origin of Benzene in Soft Drinks
http://www.schoolpouringrights.com