Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola and other generic Cola drinks use caramel to create the dark brown color. However, the cooking process to create the caramel tends to form a chemical known as 4-methylimidazole, which has been shown to be carcinogenic. California has mandated warning labels for drinks with levels of the chemical present.

To avoid the warning labels, both Coke and Pepsi have ordered supplies of caramel to alter the way they make the ingredient, to reduce the level of 4-methylimidazole. While Coke and Pepsi make up for nearly 90% of the soft drinks market, other manufacturers have responded, including Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. who said all its caramel coloring now meet the new California standard.

The American Beverage Association, which represents the soft drinks industry at large, said its member companies will continue to use caramel coloring in products that warrant it, but that manufacturing process have been adjusted to meet California’s new standards.

They said in a statement that :

“Consumers will notice no difference in our products and have no reason at
all for any health concerns.”

At the same time, Diana Garza-Ciarlante, a representative for Coca-Cola, said it has directed its caramel suppliers to improve their manufacturing processes, reducing the levels of the chemical 4-methylimidazole, stating that :

“While we believe that there is no public health risk that justifies any such change, we did ask our caramel suppliers to take this step so that our products would not be subject to the requirement of a scientifically unfounded warning.”

Meanwhile, a consumer advocacy group, The Center for Science in the Public Interest, filed a petition last month, urging the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban the use of ammonia-sulfite caramel coloring.

In what appears to be somewhat of a storm in a tea cup, the FDA responded, noting the concerns but clarifying that a consumer would need to drink more than 1,000 cans of soda a day for their intake to be comparable with the doses administered in animal testing on rodents, that have shown links with cancer. 1,000 cans per day of almost anything would probably give you cancer in the long run!.

The American Beverage Association more or less dismissed the California rule, saying that the caramel coloring was added to a list of carcinogens, without a full study to show that it causes cancer in humans. The Association says it based its law on a single study in lab mice and rats.

Written by Rupert Shepherd