Fanta,Sprite Saga: Matters Arising
A Catholic Parish in a suburb in Ikeja, Lagos, started its Children’s Mass in the later part of 2016. To liven up the solemn celebrations, every Sunday the church offers the young attendees biscuits while winners of a Bible quiz competition, also held during the Mass get ‘big’ Coke each as perks.
Penultimate Sunday, after the mass, a child walked up to the officiating priest, (name withheld), and queried him for giving out Coca-Cola products to the day’s quiz competition winners when his mummy had said that Coke is ‘unsafe for human consumption.’
“The child said, ‘Father, my mummy said that Coke is not good,’” recounted the perplexed priest, laughing.
“Thank God, it is your mummy who said so and not your daddy. People have been drinking Coke for over 50 years and nothing has happened to them,” the priest countered.
There has been a public outrage since the news broke on March 14, 2017, that a Lagos High Court ordered NAFDAC to mandate Nigeria Bottling Company (NBC), the local company that manufactures and markets Coca-Cola products in Nigeria, to add warning on the labels of its products, particularly; Fanta and Sprite, stating that they are unsafe when consumed with vitamin C. The order followed a law suit filed by Fijabi & Co, claiming that NBC breached the duty of care owed its customers in the production of Fanta and Sprite soft drinks with excessive benzoic acid and Ascorbic acid.
The priest’s encounter with the child is just one of the reactions that trailed the development. On social media and real time, consumers ranted,venting their anger. Consumers were angered at perceived betrayal of trust by the Coca-Cola and its local subsidiary, NBC, a brand that have been their sweethearts for decades(Coca-Cola is the market leader in the carbonated soft drinks.) Their 60 –something-year old love affair with Coca Cola which started in 1951 when NBC was incorporated was in the aftermath threatened by fear over the question of safety of its products, a smear that did spread from Fanta and Sprite to other brands under the Coca-Cola umbrella.
Some of the questions they raised include: Why would NBC use Benzoic Acid and Ascorbic acid in producing a drink for human consumption when the two elements could turn to benzene, a toxic compound that is known to be be carcinogenic?Why would NAFDAC set a standard considered ‘unsafe’ for human consumption in London (where the said products were exported to) and NBC use same?
Benzoic acid is a crystalline substance used as preservative by not just Coca- Cola but manufacturers of beverages, meat and other food products to prevent microbial growth,explained a nutritionist, Dr Bartholomew Brai.
“Benzoic is one of the safest preservatives used in food and drinks and other products like toothpaste,shampoo,cosmetics and medicine to prevent microbial growth. It is readily absorbed through the digestive tracts into the blood to the liver and in the liver it combines with glycine to form hippuric acid which is highly water and readily excreted in the urine,” Brai added. He also argued that benzoic acid in Coca Cola drinks is not in large quantity and cannot be stored in large quantity in the body system for it to cause health problems.
Brai, however, counselled, consumers to always take their drugs with ordinary water to avoid drug interactions. “You don’t take drugs with any beverage.Take your drugs with water.”
On fears that benzoic acid reacts with ascorbic acid to form benzene, Dr Brai who is the President of Nutrition Society of Nigeria(NSN) said that Benzoic and ascorbic acids do not lead to formation of benzene except under very high temperature( 60 °C) or in the presence of metallic ions like copper or ultra-violent rays.
“It is true benzoic acid may react with Ascorbic acid to form benzene, but it is under certain conditions; under extreme hot weather condition at 60 °C . That is why beverage manufacturers advise against storage of beverages under hot conditions. In Nigeria, even peak hot weather in Maidugri is less than 60 °C,” he said.
On why the UK standards of acceptable limit differed from Nigeria’s, the Federal Ministry of Health had explained that it was due to climatic differences in the two countries.
In a statement issued and signed by the ministry’s Director, Media and Public Relations, Akinola Boade, it stated that due to the different environmental conditions obtainable in the UK, the levels for benzoic acid was set at a lower limit of 150mg/kg, while in Nigeria it was set at 250mg/kg in compliance with both the Codex and Nigeria Industrial Standards and therefore, it declared Fanta and Sprite safe for consumption.
“With reference to the Codex standards, each country or region is permitted to adopt a standard and limit based on country-specific scientific evidence such as environmental, storage, shelf-life and distribution conditions.
“NAFDAC and SON regularly monitor the manufacturing practices of food industries and conduct laboratory analysis to ascertain continuous compliance with required national standards,” it stated, exonerating the two relevant regulatory agencies; NAFDAC and SON, from perceived negligence of responsibilities to Nigerian consumers.
Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) is the organisation established by Food and Agriculture Organisation(FAO), a body created by the United Nations and World Health Organisation (WHO) which sets internationally recognised standards, codes of practice, guidelines for food production and safety. Codex standard for benzoic acid in CSD was 600mg/kg which was reviewed downward to 250mg/kg and that tallied with NAFDAC Standards. The levels of benzoic acid in Fanta (1 batch) and Sprite (2 batches) presented by the claimant in the court are 188.64mg/kg and 201.06mg/kg and 161.5mg/kg, respectively.
When asked, the Corporate Communication Manager, Coca Cola Nigeria, Clem Ugorji, declined to comment on the Fanta/Sprite controversy, citing the fact that the case is still in court.
“The matter is in court. We are not expected to comment on it. We don’t want to be in contempt of court,” he said.
