In March, California passed a law mandating drinks containing a certain level of carcinogens come with a cancer warning label. PepsiCo Inc. and Coca-Cola Co. both said they would adjust their formulas nationally. Coca-Cola Co. said that the changes were made for drinks sold in California so they would adhere to the law, but the formula of the beverage would not be affected. The changes were made nationally so the company wouldn't have to have separate inventory of products for different locations, but not worldwide.
However, Pepsi has yet to extend the adjustments beyond the California market, according to New York Daily News.
On Wednesday, watchdog group The Center for Environmental Health said the drink still contained worrisome levels of the chemical 4-methylimidazole, or 4-Mel, a compound originating in certain kinds of caramel coloring used in Coca-Cola and Pepsi's products.
Pepsi said its caramel coloring suppliers are changing their manufacturing process to cut the amount of 4-Mel in its caramel. That process is complete in California and will be finished in February 2014 in the rest of the country. Pepsi said it will also be taken out globally, but did not indicate a timeline.
The Center for Environmental Health said it commissioned Eurofins Analytical laboratory in Metairie, La., to test Coke and Pepsi products from California in May and from across the country in June.
The lab did not find the chemical in California products. And it found no 4-Mel in nine out of 10 Coke products outside of the state. But it found levels of 4-Mel that are 4 to 8 times higher than California safety levels in all 10 Pepsi products purchased outside California, according to the Center for Environmental Health.
Meanwhile, the FDA and other regulatory agencies around the world consider Pepsi's caramel coloring safe. The link between the 4-Mel and cancer appears to have little scientific footing beyond a lab mice experiment concerning extremely high doses of the chemical.
Coca-Cola and PepsiCo account for almost 90 percent of the soda market, according to industry tracker Beverage Digest.
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