Karnataka 2nd PUC Business Studies Notes Chapter 3 Business Environment
→ The soft-drinks giants, Pepsico and Coca-Cola, suffered a decline in sales of colas in India in the beginning of the year 2006 after an environmental group, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) claimed to have found pesticides in their drinks upto 50 times the permissible health limits.
→ These companies issued a number of press statements and conducted many publicity compaigns in India claiming that their beverages were perfectly safe. The Union Health Ministry’s expert committee also observes that Coke and Pepsi were safe. CSE, in turn, criticised the expert committees findings and said that 11 of Coke and Pepsi drinks contained average pesticide levels that were 24 times higher than the limits agreed by the Indian government.
→ Despite health ministry’s clean chit to colas, several States continue to ban or restrict Coke and Pepsi. However, the pesticide controversy adversely affected the sales of both Coke and Pespi as consumers started watching their diet more closely. Organic food products suddenly became popular as the healthier option.
→ By definition, organic means fruits, vegetables, foodgrains and processed products that have been produced with no pesticide or inorganic fertilisers. Meanwhile the soft drinks giants have been continuously advertising and trying to convince the consumers about the safety of their products.