The Hindu : CSE tests on soft drinks faulty: CERC

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 22, 2003

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CSE tests on soft drinks faulty: CERC

By Our Special Correspondent

AHMEDABAD Aug. 21. The Ahmedabad-based Consumer Education and Research Centre (CERC) differs with the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on the safety of soft drinks and believes that the tests carried out by the Delhi-based organisation are faulty.

Manubhai Shah, managing trustee of the CERC, which is celebrating its silver jubilee, said the CSE checked the soft drinks against the European standards, which was incorrect and unfair to the manufacturers. Since the products conform to the standards prescribed in India, the CSE should not have found fault with the manufacturers.

He claimed that the CERC had tested the soft drinks in 1997 and had found that except in Coca Cola, in which the content of caffeine was much higher than even the United States standards, all the other products conformed to Indian standards.

He said the only positive result of the CSE findings was that it highlighted the need for an upward revision of Indian standards on soft drinks.

Following the controversy created over the CSE findings, the CERC had written to the Centre demanding upward revision of the standards and that the manufacturers be given enough time to upgrade their products to conform to the revised standards. But he did not believe that the consumption of the soft drinks caused any health hazards right now.

Change in relief rules

The CERC, which had been playing a pioneering role in the consumer protection movement in the country and more particularly among the consumers in Gujarat, is also working out details to file a case against the Indian Airlines and some private airliners for an "arbitrary change" in the rules for senior citizens to avail concessional rates.

Mr. Shah said there was no justification in the change in the rules for availing concessional rates that the tickets should be booked at least seven days in advance and that the person concerned would have to stay for at least seven days in the place of visit.

He said the changes could not have been made without the tacit approval of the Union Ministry for Civil Aviation. The CERC had already issued notice to the IA, the Jet Airways and the Civil Aviation Ministry after which a case would be filed in the court if the airliners and the Centre failed to justify the changes.

Mr. Shah also released the test report of the ordinary 60 watt electric bulbs carried out by the CERC in which at least four manufacturers failed the ISI standard either in respect of longevity of the bulbs or in lumen.

He said the CERC had written to the Bureau of Indian Standards about the test results and that it had taken up the matter with the manufacturers for corrective measures.

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