Supreme court orders cola companies to disclose pesticides contents.

Dear all:

 

Here is the press clipping of an important Supreme Court order asking cola companies to print the contents on the pack. It also requires them to print the level of pesticides. I am trying to locate the full order. In the mean time hope this will be useful.

 

sachin agarwal

 

o o o o o o o

 

 

Disclose pesticide content in colas: SC to Coke, Pepsi
Press Trust f India
December 06, 2004 17:41 IST
http://www.livejournal.com/community/stolngeneration/5105.html

 

Saying that the consumer has the right to know what he consumes, the
Supreme Court of India on Monday dismissed two petitions filed by soft
drink giants, Pepsi and Coca-Cola, challenging a Rajasthan high court
order asking them to print on containers the extent of pesticide
residues in their products.

 

While dismissing the special leave petitions filed by Pepsi Foods Ltd
and Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (P) Ltd, a Bench comprising Chief
Justice R C Lahoti, Justice D M Dharmadhikari and Justice G P Mathur
allowed them to approach the high court with a plea as to what extent
they could comply with its directive.

 

The apex court also suspended implementation of the high court order
by two weeks, as the counsels for the two companies -- senior
advocates Arun Jaitley and Harish Salve -- said that the print on the
containers would read as "the contents may have traces of pesticide
which is well below the prescribed standard."

 

By the November 3 order, the high court had directed Pepsi and
Coca-Cola, which account for 99 per cent of the soft drink sales, and
all other carbonated beverage manufacturers to disclose the
composition and contents of the products, including the presence of
pesticides and chemicals, on the bottle, package or container.

 

The apex court said the entire anxiety of the high court stemmed from
public interest and "we do not see anything unreasonable or
unconstitutional in the high court order."

 

The Bench, while asking the two soft drink giants to approach the
Rajasthan high court, noted in its order that if their applications
regarding the manner in which the pesticide contents were to be
displayed on container were not entertained, the manufacturers could
approach the Apex Court again.

 

Right at the beginning of the hearing, Salve contended that no
pesticide was added to the soft drink in the manufacturing process.

 

The pesticide content of the raw material -- water and sugar -- would
be reflected in the soft drink, he said and added that extensive use
of pesticides in agriculture has resulted in high degree of their
presence in sugar.

 

But the Bench asked, "Why would the consumer not know as to what he is
consuming. You can declare in you printline that the sugar used by the
soft drink manufacturer contained pesticide."

 

Jaitley focussed on the aspect of the powers of the high court to pass
such an order, saying if the government had passed such an order only
against the soft drink industry, it would have been quashed by the
courts on the ground of discrimination.

 

Moreover, directing the manufacturers to disclose the composition
would amount to infringement of the right to maintain trade secret, he
said.Salve pitched in by saying that "agriculture in our country is a holy
cow and no government would make a law against them even if it is in
public knowledge that coffee and tea and even fruit juice contained
more pesticide than the soft drinks."

 

o o o o o o o

 

See background of the issue at

http://www.google.co.in/search?hl=en&q=Supreme+Court+rejects+Coke+plea+India&meta=

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