Good to know this. Two keen competitors in the marketing of their sugary soda drinks, Cocacola and Pepsico announced that they
have lowered levels of a chemical in caramel coloring to comply with a
California law, but insisted the drinks pose no health risks and recipes
will not change.
This move will allow the companies to avoid having to
label products with a cancer warning due to what the health-conscious
west coast state has ruled are high levels of 4-methylimidazole, shown
to cause cancer in lab rodents.
4-Methylimidazole (4MI) is used in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals,
photographic chemicals, dyes and pigments, cleaning and agricultural
chemicals, and rubber. It has been identified as a by-product of
fermentation in foods and has been detected in mainstream and side
stream tobacco smoke.
4MI is carcinogenic inducing alveolar/bronchiolar adenoma and carcinoma
in male and female mice. 4MI may also induce mononuclear cell leukemia
in female rats.
Both Cocacola and Pepsico said their
popular and highly secretive soda recipes will not be altered but that
caramel suppliers have been asked to reduce 4-MEI levels in California, a
change that will eventually spread across the United States.
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