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| The Top Ten Unfounded Health Scares of 2006 #2 |
| Benzene in Soft Drinks Cause Cancer |
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 The Scare: Soft drinks contain high levels of benzene (15) according to some activists. Small amounts of the chemical benzene were found in soft drinks, containing both the benzoate preservatives and vitamin C, that had been exposed to heat and light.
Origin of the Scare: FDA had found benzene in some drinks back in the early 1990s, and manufacturers had been warned to reformulate their products, which they did. But in 2005, an activist notified the FDA that some soft drinks contained benzene: this initiated the scare. The Environmental Working Group accused the FDA and soft drink producers of hiding the presence of benzene in some “popular children’s beverages.” (16) The group warned consumers to avoid beverages that contain both preservatives of this sort and the vitamin, and stated that the FDA found “high levels” of this “potent carcinogen” in tests of some soft drinks, and provided a list of drinks in which the chemical had been found.
Media Coverage: Various Internet and print media covered the story with varying degrees of accuracy and hype. Some simply called the chemical a “human carcinogen linked to leukemia” with no mention of doses. (17) Some mentioned that the benzene was present in “levels above the limit considered safe for drinking water,” while others warned of “[s]oft drinks found to contain high levels of cancer-causing benzene.” (18)
The Bottom Line: Yes, benzene is a carcinogen—at high doses—and has been linked to leukemia in workers exposed over years. The current EPA limit on benzene in water is 5 parts per billion (ppb), and levels found in soft drinks were over that amount. But what the scaremongers don’t tell us is that even levels above that are not necessarily going to present a problem. The amounts found in soft drinks are extraordinarily small—one ppb is analogous to one second in 32 years. Back in 1990, when there was a similar scare about benzene in Perrier (naturally present in the spring the water came from), the FDA counseled that the levels (12-20 ppb) should not be of concern. (19) Again, for this latest benzene discovery, the FDA noted that the levels of the chemical in soft drinks were not a health concern. In response to a letter from the EWG, an FDA representative responded in part:
Your letter includes a list of beverage products that were purchased in retail outlets and that contain ascorbic acid and benzoates. You cite this list as evidence that the beverage industry has not eliminated the chemical combination that can form benzene. You should know, however, that the presence of benzoates and vitamin C in a product cannot be used to conclude that elevated levels of benzene have or will form. In fact, in our current analyses, the vast majority of beverages containing both benzoate preservative and ascorbic acid contained either no detectable benzene or levels below 5 ppb. (20)
Thus, the activist group exaggerated the likelihood of occurrence of benzene in soft drinks, without taking into account the science behind the presence of the chemical or the lack of health implications of the low levels found.
For more information on benzene see ACSH’s articles on the topic. |
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| Table of Contents |
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Introduction
1. Trans Fatty Acids Cause Obesity and Heart Disease
2. Benzene in Soft Drinks Cause Cancer
3. High Fructose Corn Syrup Causes Obesity
4. Tuna Has Unsafe Mercury Levels
5. Nitrosamines in Bacon Cause Bladder Cancer
6. Teflon Contains a Cancer-Causing Chemical (PFOA)
7. Grilled Chicken: Another Cancer Risk?
8. Meat Packaging Threatens Consumers’ Health
9. Consumers Should Fear Chemicals in Cosmetics
10. Hormone Replacement Therapy Fears and Hype About “Natural” Alternatives
References
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| Published: December 2006 |
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| Paperback |
| ISBN: N/A |
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