NEW DELHI, Aug 2: Soft drinks sold in India by US beverage giants Coca-Cola and PepsiCo still contain high levels of pesticide residue and the government has failed to do anything about it, a new report has found.

Tests of 57 samples of 11 soft drinks produced by the two companies found high pesticide residues in all the samples, according to a report released Wednesday by the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).

The report is a follow-up to its findings three years ago that 12 of the companies’ soft drinks had such high pesticide levels they could lead to cancer.

“We come back to you saying nothing has changed,” Sunita Narain, CSE’s director, told the NDTV news channel after releasing the report.

“Three years later standards have been finalised but not (implemented).”

Although the Bureau of Indian Standards formulated acceptable levels of residues for soft drinks in the wake of CSE’s 2003 report, these have yet to be put in place.

The residue levels found in fizzy drinks in the most recent tests were as much as 24 to 200 times higher for some deadly pesticides than those the standards agency has suggested are acceptable.

“This is a grave public health scandal,” said Narain.

Coca-Cola and Pepsi both deny their drinks pose any health hazards.

Narain said the group has no bone to pick with the big cola companies but called on the Indian government to act.

“We essentially have only one demand: set the standards,” said Narain.—AFP