Carcinogen again found in soft drinks

WASHINGTON – When small amounts of benzene, a known cancer-causing chemical, were found in some soft drinks 16 years ago, the Food and Drug Administration never told the public.

That’s because the beverage industry told the government it would handle the problem and the FDA thought the problem was solved.

A decade and a half later, benzene has turned up again. The FDA has found levels in some soft drinks higher than what it found in 1990, and two to four times higher than what’s considered safe for drinking water.

Both the FDA and the beverage industry said the amounts were small and that the problem didn’t appear to be widespread.

“People shouldn’t overreact,” said Kevin Keane, a spokesman for the American Beverage Association. “It’s a very small number of products and not major brands.”

“The issue here is not something that should cause anyone alarm or terrific concern,” said George Pauli, a top food safety expert at the FDA, “but if there’s something that can be reduced, we want to reduce it.”

Neither Keane nor Pauli would identify the drinks being tested because the investigation is still under way.

Pauli said that people ingest more benzene by breathing than they would if they drank a can of soda containing the chemical. Small amounts of the chemical also are naturally present in some foods such as fruits, vegetables and dairy products.

Still, Pauli added, “You want to avoid it in any degree you can.”

Of the 60 or so varieties of sodas, sports drinks, juice drinks and bottled waters that the FDA has tested so far, benzene levels have ranged from two and three parts per billion to more than 10-20 parts per billion.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s safety standard for benzene in drinking water is five parts per billion. If it exceeds that, authorities are required to notify the public.

Benzene can show up in soft drinks when two common ingredients react: ascorbic acid, otherwise known as vitamin C, and either sodium benzoate or potassium benzoate. Both are preservatives used to prevent the growth of bacteria.

But the presence of these chemicals doesn’t necessarily produce benzene.

Pauli said that a catalyst such as temperature or light is needed to trigger the formation of benzene. That’s what scientists suspect occurred in 1990 when authorities found benzene in products made by Cadbury Schweppes and Koala Springs.

But a health safety watchdog organization said the FDA should inform the public, particularly since so many soft drinks are marketed to children.

“Most people would prefer there are no known human carcinogens in what they drink,” said Jane Houlihan, vice president for research at the Environmental Working Group.