A request for mandatory labeling of soft drinks for the presence of benzene by the environmental Working Group was denied by FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition

Food & Drink Weekly, April 3, 2006

> A request for mandatory labeling of soft drinks for the presence of benzene by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) was denied by FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. FDA said the EWG "not provided any rationale why the presence of benzene in soft drinks at low parts per billion levels should have been considered as a clear health threat at that time or should be considered as such a threat now." FDA also said that it and "the Health Protection Branch in Canada agreed then, as they agree now that low ppb levels of benzene found in these products did not and do not constitute an imminent health hazard."