The Consumer Protection Council (CPC) has declared Mirinda and Lucozade soft drinks a unsafe for Nigerian consumers.
The council said both beverages contained benzoic acid level above the limit approved by the Nigerian Industrial Standard (NIS).
The Council said in a statement yesterday in Abuja that while the NIS
limit for benzoic acid is 250mg/Kg, when combined with Vitamin C and
300mg/Kg without Vitamin C, test revealed that Mirinda, a product of 7UP
Bottling Company, contained benzoic acid ranging between 0.56mg/L to
330.9mg/L.
It said Lucozade, formerly produced by Glaxo SmithKline, contained the acid between 2.26mg/L to 323.53mg/L.
The council said the test was conducted at the Sheda Science and
Technology Complex (SHESTCO), a laboratory under the Federal Ministry of
Science and Technology.
The council said it obtained 65 samples of soft drinks from the open
market in eight locations within the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria,
made up of Fanta Orange, Sprite, Mirinda and Lucozade.
“The Council also observed from the results that there were isolated
cases of Mirinda and Lucozade with Benzoic Acid levels of 330.9mg/L and
323.53mg/L respectively, which are above the NIS limit,” the Director
General of CPC, Mrs Dupe Atoki, said.
The Council further said the test found that benzoic acid levels in
Fanta Orange ranged from 5.09mg/L to 197.0mg/L while that of Sprite
ranged from 2.82mg/L to 239.0mg/L, indicating that both soft drinks were
safe for Nigerian consumers as they contained benzoic acid within the
limit approved by the NIS.
Atoki said NAFDAC and SON have been informed of the investigation and
has recommended regulatory action and review of the “benzoic acid
limits in soft drinks as the current standard, which has been in
existence since 2008 is overdue for review.”
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