CRI听力:Coca Cola Denies its Products Contain Carcinogens

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), an NGO based in the US, issued a report on Monday indicating that several popular brands of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo contain high levels of a chemical called 4-methylimidazole, which they believe to be a carcinogen.

4-methylimidazole, or 4-MI is generated in the production process of dyeing something caramel colored, which is a food additive broadly used in many food industries. The brown color of Coca-cola comes from this chemical.

Wang Lei, Coca-cola China Public Affairs and Communications Senior Manager, rebutted CSPI's alleged findings as groundless and irresponsible.

"The American Beverage Association issued a statement accusing CSPI of groundless allegations. The US Food and Drug Administration clarified that the caramel coloring in soft drinks poses no cancer risk, and there has been no impact on our sales in the Chinese market."

Chen Junshi, a senior researcher from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention under the National Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety says there is no evidence to show caramel color or 4-MI would do any harm to health.

"Actually the caramel coloring agent, as a food additive, is applied in a wide range of food processing industries. It can be found not only in Coca-cola, but in many others like coffee, beer and bread, even soy sauce and roasted Peking duck. Caramel color and 4-MI used within a standard range will not cause cancer. An excessive dosage of 4-MI may pose some health threats but will not cause cancer, but it has been shown to cause cancer in rodents."

Meanwhile, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) spokesman Douglas Karas has clarified in a statement that a consumer would have to consume well over a thousand cans of soda a day to reach the doses administered in the studies that have shown links to cancer in rodents.

The FDA's limit for 4-MI in caramel coloring is 250 parts per million (ppm) and China has a stricter limit. The highest levels of 4-MI found by CSPI were about 0.4 ppm, which has no health risks.

For CRI, this is Wei Tong.