Thumbs-down for Coke, Pepsi?

Cola giants always vie against each other to out-sell their products. Now, a revelation by the Centre for Science and Environment that 11 brands of soft drink giants Coca Cola and PepsiCo contain a 'pesticide cocktail' may have put the cola giants in a spot of bother.

It's not the first time that pesticide residues have been traced in Indian-made cola. In 2003, the average level of pesticide residues in cola samples was found to be 34 times above BIS standards.

The new findings, publicised after testing 57 samples of 11 soft drink brands of Coca Cola and PepsiCo collected from 25 manufacturing units across 12 states, claims that all the bottles examined were a 'cocktail of 3-5 different pesticides,' which was 24

times above the standards finalised by Bureau of Indian Standards. The study also reveals that Pepsi Cola contains 30 times higher residues on an average and it was 27 times higher for Coca Cola.

Now with parliamentarians too echoing the need to ban cola companies, what is you opinion about the CSE findings? Do you agree with our lawmakers that consuming cola is nothing short of slow poisoning? Would you still drink cola? Tell us.