PepsiCo Inc, the world's second-biggest soft-drink maker, will follow standards India plans to set, norms that may end the recurring debate over pesticide residues in its beverages and those of bigger rival Coca-Cola Co.
"We will abide by and fully comply with whatever standards the government sets," Indra Nooyi, the India-born chief executive officer of Purchase, New York-based PepsiCo, said in a speech at a seminar in New Delhi yesterday. "We and the Coca-Cola Co are working on a breakthrough technology that will detect very low levels of pesticide residues in soft drinks."
The controversy resurfaced this summer after an Indian pressure group said its tests showed 57 samples of 11 brands of sodas made by the two companies had pesticides residues. The government maintained the findings didn't conclusively prove drinks made by Coca-Cola and PepsiCo contain pollutants.
The companies also succeeded in overturning a sales ban on their sodas in the southern state of Kerala, a Communist-ruled province that was among the local administrations imposing varying curbs after the pressure group made public its findings.
While the authorities in other states imposed partial bans, the administration of Kerala, a tropical vacation destination along the Arabian Sea, was the only government to fully ban brands from both companies.
Atlanta-based Coca-Cola and PepsiCo disputed the testing methods and results, and said their drinks meet the EU standard of less than 1 part per billion for any individual pesticide. Coca-Cola depends on India for about 1.3 percent of its volume.
"I personally stand by each and every product we sell," Nooyi said yesterday. "Recently, three highly reputed laboratories declared our products are safe. Residues are not detectable."
PepsiCo has reduced water use in India by 50 percent and is focusing on low-fat products aimed at curbing obesity trends, Nooyi said.
The political debate surrounding the sporadic bans stoked concerns Indian laws may fail to protect overseas businesses, consequently hurting investment flows.
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The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
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