Benzene litigator aiming at Coke
Posted on Saturday, August 26, 2006
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Business/164683/
Coca-Cola Co., the world’s largest soft-drink maker, was sued by lawyers claiming they found the leukemia-causing chemical benzene in its Vault Zero beverage.
Coca-Cola and closely held Sunny Delight were added Thursday to an existing lawsuit targeting PepsiCo Inc. ’s Diet Wild Cherry drink and Kraft Foods Inc. ’s Crystal Light Sunrise Classic Orange, according to an amended complaint filed in federal court in Kansas City, Kan.
A laboratory contracted by the plaintiffs’ lawyers found Vault Zero, after being exposed to heat, contained 13 parts per billion of benzene. The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency requires that water have less than 5 parts per billion.
Levels of more than 10 parts per billion have led to product recalls of Perrier water and Coca-Cola, according to lawyer Ross Getman, an advocate against the sale of soft drinks in schools.
Two other drink makers, In Zone Brands and TalkingRain Beverage Co., settled a case Thursday in the District of Columbia.
“These two companies have eliminated the benzene problem and all the others can do that,” said Andrew Rainer, a Boston- based lawyer supporting the plaintiffs in a telephone interview Thursday. “We hope this will be the first of several settlements.”
Each of the companies being sued has denied that any benzene found in their drinks posed a hazard. Kenan Basha, an analyst at Boston-based J. W. Childs Associates LP, which owns Sunny Delight, didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment.
The U. S. Food and Drug Administration has “closely reviewed” beverages for benzene in soft drinks in the past and has found no public-health problems, Coca-Cola spokesman Ray Crockett said Friday in an e-mailed statement.
“There is no basis for this lawsuit,” Crockett said. “There is no supporting documentation to prove how these lawyers conducted these tests.”
Consumers filed lawsuits in various states against drink makers after the FDA released test results May 19 showing that some drinks contained high levels of benzene.
At the time, the FDA said it planned no regulatory action because manufacturers had agreed to reformulate their drinks. Rainer said his contracted laboratory retested the Kraft products Kool-Aid Jammers and Crystal Light three weeks ago and found elevated benzene levels. Benzene can form when preservatives called benzoates combine with acids such as citric or ascorbic acid in the drinks. The chemical is most likely to form when stored at high temperature for long periods, the FDA said.
Meanwhile, a court in the southern Indian state of Kerala temporarily upheld a ban on production by the Indian subsidiaries of Coke, Pepsi and other soft drinks after an environmental group said their products contained high levels of pesticides. The companies have challenged the ban.