Yesterday representatives of the American Center for Science in the Public Interest filed a petition to the US Food & Drug Administration, demanding that the ‘caramel coloring’ commonly used in beverages like Coca-Cola and Pepsi be banned because, according to the latest research, it contains carcinogenic chemicals. 

Image courtesy: Jorge Bach, CSPI

According to the petition by CSPI, the so-called ‘caramel’ coloring is very dangerous to human health and has nothing to do with caramel, since the coloring used in drinks contain dangerous cancerogenous compounds.

CSPI writes, «in contrast to the caramel one might make at home by melting sugar in a saucepan, the artificial brown coloring in colas and some other products is made by reacting sugars with ammonia and sulfites under high pressure and temperatures. Chemical reactions result in the formation of 2-methylimidazole [2-MI] and 4 methylimidazole [4-MI], which in government-conducted studies caused lung, liver, or thyroid cancer or leukemia in laboratory mice or rats».

The National Toxicology Program, the division of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences that conducted the animal studies, said that there is «clear evidence» that both 2-MI and 4-MI are animal carcinogens. Chemicals that cause cancer in animals are considered to pose cancer threats to humans. Researchers at the University of California, Davis, found significant levels of 4-MI in five brands of cola.»

Coca-Cola immediately reacted on the claim by stating on ABC news that the petition by CSPI has no proper scientific grounding and stressing that the ingredients they use do not cause cancer.

Ted Nixon, CEO of D.D. Williamson & Co. Inc., the company specializing in manufacturing caramel color for the beverage industry, said the CSPI’s petition “is based on inaccurate science, and it’s a shame.…There is no sound science here. The FDA will act on sound science.”