Pepsi Carcinogen California: Soda Contains Cancer-Causing Chemicals In 10 States? Coca-Cola Tests Negative For Dangerous Caramel Coloring

Pepsi products outside of California may contain carcinogens from the chemical in their caramel coloring, an environmental group says. However, Coca-Cola products tested negative for carcinogens.

The group, called The Center for Environmental Health, has found that the caramel coloring used in Pepsi contains a high level of a probable carcinogen. The company claimed that it had removed the chemical and changed its formula for California products, after the state passed a law requiring drinks which contain a certain level of carcinogens to come with a cancer warning label, The Associated Press reports.  

PepsiCo Inc. and Coca-Cola Co. both said they would adjust their formulas nationally after the law was passed in California.

The Center for Environmental Health said that Pepsi bought from 10 different states contained 4-methylimidazole, or 4-Mel. Coke products, on the other hand, no longer tested positive for the chemical.

"The caramel color in all of our products has been, is and always will be safe," Coca-Cola Co. spokesperson Ben Sheidler said, CBS News reports.

Pepsi said its caramel coloring suppliers are changing their manufacturing process to cut the amount of 4-Mel in its caramel. The Pepsi products in California have already changed, and the formula will be altered nationally by February 2014. Pepsi said this change will also take into effect globally, but did not say when this alteration would be complete.

Despite the claims that the coloring may cause cancer, this has not been proven for humans. Pepsi said the FDA and other agencies around the world consider Pepsi's caramel coloring safe.

The American Beverage Association said that California's law was made without any studies proving that the coloring causes cancer in humans. The only evidence comes from a study in lab mice and rats. The Food and Drug Administration has also said that a human must drink more than 1,000 cans of soda a day to reach the doses proven to cause cancer in rodents.

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo products take up almost 90 percent of the soda market, according to Beverage Digest.

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