17 March 2006 - In light of the recent media coverage about the presence of benzene in the food chain and in our lives, The Coca-Cola Company wants to state unequivocally that our products are safe and the Company complies with all applicable regulations pertaining to our products' quality.
While we have tested our products for benzene in the past, we are now doing additional testing globally. The majority of our products -- including Coca-Cola®, Diet Coke® and Coca-Cola light® -- do not contain both benzoate (a preservative) and ascorbic acid (vitamin C), a combination that is believed to produce benzene under certain conditions.
The primary way most people are exposed to benzene is through the air we breathe. In fact, when concerns were raised in 1998 about benzene, the United Kingdom's Department of Health said: "To put the issue in perspective, the major source of exposure to benzene is from breathing traffic fumes."
The authors of a recent study by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) noted, however, that the amounts of benzene needed to be considered toxic are much higher than those an average individual is exposed to on a regular basis.
Benzene is found in many common foods including bananas, butter, eggs, and tuna. The concentration of benzene in a banana can be up to 136 times higher than in a carbonated soft drink (CSD), and the concentration in a tomato can be up to 67 times higher than a CSD.
The FDA study found benzene in 68 of 70 foods. Still, food is responsible for less than 5 percent of our exposure to benzene, according to an official from the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition who was quoted in a February 27 article in Food Chemical News.
The Coca-Cola Company maintains an uncompromising commitment to product safety and quality. Consumers around the world invite us into their lives more than one billion times a day; we take this relationship and responsibility very seriously.
While no regulatory limits for benzene apply directly to finished soft drinks, there are several guidelines and limits set for drinking water and bottled water, ranging from the World Health Organization level of 10 parts per billion (ppb) to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)/FDA level of 5 ppb and the European Union level of 1 ppb.
The benzene issue affects the entire food chain, not just soft drinks. Beverages are an exceedingly small contributor; however, we are taking responsible actions on many fronts to ensure that our all our products continue to meet our rigorous quality standards.
We are working in conjunction with the industry and regulatory authorities to provide data and background and to lower even further the already safe amounts of benzene in certain products.