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Article: Benzene cuts climb up agenda: following media scare stories earlier this year, the soft drinks industry is working to further reduce any risk to consumers from products containing sodium benzoate and vitamin C.
- Article from:
- Grocer
- Article date:
- May 6, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 William Reed Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Dramatic newspaper headlines, such as 'soft drink cancer link' and 'soft drinks have high level of cancer chemical' screamed out from national newspapers in March when benzene was discovered in a number of products. Benzene, which is present in pollutants such as cigarette smoke and car exhaust fumes, has been linked to leukaemia and other cancers of the blood.
The Food Standards Agency embarked on its own investigation and a month later recalled four products that had been found to have benzene levels above the World Health Organisation's guidelines for drinking water. Another 38 of the 150 samples it tested contained one to 10 parts per billion of the chemical, ...