Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss on Thursday said that his ministry will be sending an advisory to all state governments on the ill effects of 'all junk foods, including beverages like colas and aerated drinks.'
What that has to do with the ongoing cola controversy, which looks at alarming levels of pesticides in the fizzy drinks, is anybody's guess.
In a statement to the Lok Sabha earlier, Ramadoss had listed a number of measures that his ministry had undertaken to fix norms for carbonated water and sugar. The minister clarified that he would not advocate a blanket ban on these products, choosing to send an advisory on junk food.
"The standards for soft drinks (carbonated water) had been amended, making it mandatory to use water conforming to standards prescribed for Packaged Drinking Water under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules, 1955.
The ministry had set up a National Level Expert Committee to advise the Central Committee for Food Standards on pesticide residues," he had stated in the Lok Sabha.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) though appears to take the matter seriously enough. According to CPM leader Mohammad Salim, even though there has been no move to ban Pepsi and Coke in West Bengal following the example set by CPM-ruled Kerala, the party is mulling the possibility of fostering a public movement.
"In Kerala, there is a popular movement supporting the ban but in West Bengal we have to build that movement. Only those bans, which are backed by strong public opinion, stand scrutiny in court. We have asked the state government to lift samples in the state," he said.
While there seems to be a consensus that the Centre for Science and Environment findings are shocking, just what the Centre plans to do with the data remains a cipher.