Following is Environmental Working Group's statement on the Food and Drug Administration's finding of high levels of benzene in several samples in a test of a small number of sodas and juice drinks.
"FDA's test results confirm that there is a serious problem with benzene in soda and juices," said Richard Wiles, senior vice president at Environmental Working Group.
In a very limited sample of products, FDA found two popular drinks - Safeway Diet Orange and Crystal Light Sunrise Classic Orange - with 20 times more benzene than allowed in tap water, and six other products with benzene at levels two to four times the drinking water limit. Many other products had detectable levels of the carcinogen.
"There is no excuse for deliberately putting chemicals that form high levels of potent cancer-causing benzene in popular drinks," Wiles said. "This is a wake-up call for the beverage industry. It is time to get benzene-forming ingredients out of sodas and juices."
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