Internal Soda Co Docs On Benzene Formation Uploaded

Ross E. Getman

Medical malpractice lawyer Jack Olender in his "Top 10 legal predictions for 2006" predicted last week that a settlement of threatened public interest litigation aimed at getting soda out of schools "may prevent a lot of information about how unhealthy sodas are for children from being disclosed in lawsuit discovery and trials." He notes "This is not to say Coke and Pepsi will not see it in their self interest to reduce the volume of carbonated soda sales to school children."

Below are excerpts from such an internal soda company document. It is uploaded at http://www.schoolpouringrights.com under "benzene". The uploaded pages are from documents provided by a soda company whistleblower who was part of a secret research project in 1990 about the tendency of benzene to form in soft drinks under certain conditions.

New Data Since Last Meeting:

"1. Second Trumbull Experiment (all combinations of Sodium Benzoate, Citric Acid, Ascorbic Acid and Yellow #6). Results attached.

- Benzene generated only in solutions with both Sodium Benzoate and Ascorbic Acid.

-Heat alone is sufficient to generate benzene; heat and UV light is faster.

-Citric Acid accelerates increase, Yellow #6 slows it down.

2. Canadian finished products ...

- Benzene generated in all four; much higher in Diets than Regulars.

***

New Data Since Last Meeting:

1. Trumbull Experiment #3:.

A. Model Systems (based on previous combinations of Sodium Benzoate, Citric Acid, and Ascorbic Acid)

- Reducing benzoate by 50% doesn't slow increase in benzene. ...
- Adding EDTA slows the increase significantly.
***
-Current formulas: benzene increases faster in Diet than Regular.

-Removing ascorbic acid eliminates benzene under these conditions ...

Immediate Action To Be Taken:

Remaining Issues:

1. Specific Bottlers: Why do some markets have higher benzene levels than others? ....

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Next Steps

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7. Formula review [names redacted]: A list will be compiled of all [company name redacted] which contain benzoate and ascorbic acid ... starting with U.S. and Canada, to be followed by international products."

The soda companies neglected to tell consumers about this tendency of benzene to form under these conditions.

In the European Union, the level for benzene in drinking water is now 1 part per billion (ppb). Before contacting the FDA with this information, I spoke with the company Vice-President who wrote the memos summarizing the research project (called "Operation Denver"). She lives not far from me. I asked her why the company did not recall the product -- which the memorandum explains tested at 25 ppb "off the shelf" and 82 ppb after exposure to heat and light in a weatherometer. She said it was because the standard for benzene formally applied only to drinking water and not to soft drinks. She argued that there was no legally binding standard for soft drinks.

You'll be glad to know that the companies did promptly add Calcium disodium ethylene diamine tetra-acetate (" EDTA") in the US to the affected drinks. The problem is that I am advised by the FDA that calcium disodium EDTA is not an approved food additive for non-carbonated soft drinks.

Some of the internal soda company documents can be found at

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze443zw/pouringrights/marketing.html