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By Michelle Meadows
The Food and Drug Administration is working with the beverage industry to ensure that benzene levels in soft drinks and other beverages are as low as possible. Benzene is a chemical used in dyes and detergents, and in some plastics. It's also released into the air from automobile emissions and results from burning coal and oil. Benzene may be produced in soft drinks and other beverages with certain ingredient combinations. High levels of benzene in workplace air have caused cancer in workers.
The FDA has no regulatory limits for benzene in beverages other than bottled water. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has established a maximum contaminant level for benzene of 5 parts per billion (ppb) in drinking water. The FDA has adopted this level for bottled water as a quality standard. Based on results from a recent survey of soft drinks and other beverages conducted by the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), most beverage samples analyzed contained either no detectable benzene or levels below the 5 ppb limit for drinking water, and do not suggest a safety concern, says Judith Kidwell, a consumer safety officer in the CFSAN's Office of Food Additive Safety.
In 1990, the FDA learned that benzene was present in some soft drinks. The FDA and industry initiated research and discovered that exposure to heat and light can stimulate the formation of low levels of benzene in some beverages that contain both benzoate salts, such as sodium benzoate or potassium benzoate, and vitamin C (ascorbic acid).
Sodium benzoate or potassium benzoate may be added to beverages to prevent the growth of bacteria, yeasts, and molds. Benzoate salts also are naturally present in some fruits and their juices, such as cranberries. Vitamin C may be naturally present in beverages or added to prevent spoilage or to provide additional nutrients.
"The presence of benzoates and vitamin C as ingredients in a product doesn't mean that elevated levels of benzene have formed or will form," Kidwell says.
In November 2005, the FDA received private laboratory results reporting low levels of benzene in a small number of soft drinks that contain benzoate preservatives and vitamin C. In response to these findings, the FDA began collecting and analyzing samples of beverages with a focus on products that contain both benzoate and vitamin C.
From the start of the survey in November through April 2006, the FDA tested more than 100 soft drinks and other beverages. Beverage samples were collected from retail stores in Maryland, Virginia, and Michigan. The survey is not a reflection of the distribution of benzene in beverages in the U.S. food supply. The data cover a limited number of products and brands, and limited geographic areas. Even though the data are limited, Kidwell says, the FDA believes that the results indicate that benzene levels are not a safety concern for consumers. In May 2006, the FDA released results of the survey through April 20, 2006.
Almost all the samples analyzed in the CFSAN's survey contained either no benzene or levels below 5 ppb. "And benzene levels in hundreds of samples tested by other government agencies and the beverage industry are consistent with CFSAN's findings," Kidwell says.
The CFSAN found benzene levels above 5 ppb in five of the beverage products tested: Crystal Light Sunrise Classic Orange, Crush Pineapple, Safeway Select Diet Orange Soda, AquaCal Strawberry Flavored Water Beverage, and Giant Light Cranberry Juice Cocktail.
The FDA has contacted those firms whose products were found to contain more than 5 ppb benzene in the CFSAN survey. Manufacturers have reformulated the products to reduce or eliminate benzene, and some have sent samples to the CFSAN for analysis. Thus far, the CFSAN has tested a few of the reformulated products provided by the manufacturers and found that benzene levels were less than 1 ppb; additional testing is ongoing.
The International Council of Beverages Associations and the American Beverage Association have developed guidance for all beverage manufacturers on ways to minimize benzene formation.
The FDA will continue to collect and analyze beverage samples for the presence of benzene and will continue to follow up with manufacturers as survey results warrant. "Once the FDA has completed its beverage survey we will determine whether further action is necessary to protect the public health," Kidwell says.
Questions and Answers on Benzene in Beverages
www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/benzqa.html