2006年VOA标准英语-India's Cola Companies Face Bans Over Alleged P

By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi
13 August 2006
 

Students stamp on Pepsi bottles during a protest demanding the ban on sale of soft drinks in school and college cafeterias during a protest in Ahmadabad, India

In India, six states have announced bans on the sale or manufacture of soft drinks produced by U.S. companies Coca-Cola and PepsiCo following allegations that they contain high pesticide¹ levels.  The controversy² has sparked a heated debate in India over the issue of water and food contamination.

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The controversy erupted last week when a New Delhi-based environmental watchdog said soft drinks produced by the cola giants contain pesticide residues³ 24 times higher than those set by the Bureau of Indian Standards.

Coca-Cola and Pepsi have rejected the study by the Center for Science and Environment, saying their soft drinks are "the safest beverages⁴ you can drink today."

They say their Indian products meet international standards.

This is the second time the controversy has erupted. A study in 2003 by the same environmental group also claimed to have found high levels of pesticides⁵ in the drinks produced by the cola companies.

But this time the cola giants are facing more heat.

The communist government in a southern Indian state, Kerala, has imposed a total ban on production and sales of the soft drinks. Five other states have announced partial bans on the sale of the soft drinks in schools, hospitals and government offices.

The Indian Supreme⁶ Court has demanded that the companies reveal their recipe, so that allegations of high pesticide levels can be verified with further tests.

But consumer groups say the campaign against the soft drinks ignores the bigger picture. They say many Indian foods and beverages have high levels of pesticides because intensive use of chemicals by farmers has contaminated the groundwater. They are asking the government to focus on the wider issue of pesticide proliferation.

The head of the Mumbai-based Consumer Guidance Society of India, A.R. Shenoy, is calling for stricter implementation⁷ of safety standards in all food products, not only soft drinks.

"We have a lot of problems in other foods also, but who cares, who bothers? We have larger problems of water getting contaminated with microbes, and these are the microbes that will put you off [make you sick] because of diarrhea," he said. "Basically in the system as such there is no regulatory mechanism⁸."

The cola companies are also trying to emphasize the wider issue of pesticide contamination as they mount a public relations campaign to calm consumers.

They have published prominent newspaper advertisements saying pesticide levels in their products are well below levels detected in other foodstuffs⁹ such as tea, eggs, grains, fruits and dairy products.

Controversy is not new to cola products, seen by some Indian nationalist groups as symbols of Western cultural imperialism¹⁰. Coca-Cola pulled out of India in 1977 after the government insisted it reveal its formula, but returned 16 years later. 

Coca-Cola and Pepsi control nearly all of India's soft drinks market. The 2003 study saying the drinks contained high levels of pesticides briefly¹¹ dented¹² sales, but the issue quickly faded from public memory.

1 pesticide   

n.杀虫剂，农药

参考例句：

• The pesticide was spread over the vegetable plot.菜田里撒上了农药。
• This pesticide is diluted with water and applied directly to the fields.这种杀虫剂用水稀释后直接施用在田里。

2 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

3 residues   

n.剩余，余渣( residue的名词复数 )；剩余财产；剩数

参考例句：

• pesticide residues in fruit and vegetables 残留在水果和蔬菜中的杀虫剂
• All organic and metallic residues on the wafers must be removed. 片子上所有的有机和金属残留物均必须清除。 来自辞典例句

4 beverages   

n.饮料( beverage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• laws governing the sale of alcoholic beverages 控制酒类销售的法规
• regulations governing the sale of alcoholic beverages 含酒精饮料的销售管理条例

5 pesticides   

n.杀虫剂( pesticide的名词复数 )；除害药物

参考例句：

• vegetables grown without the use of pesticides 未用杀虫剂种植的蔬菜
• There is a lot of concern over the amount of herbicides and pesticides used in farming. 人们对农业上灭草剂和杀虫剂的用量非常担忧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

7 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

8 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

9 foodstuffs   

食物，食品( foodstuff的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Imports of foodstuffs accounted for a small proportion of total imports. 食物进口仅占总进口额的一小部份。
• Many basic foodstuffs, such as bread and milk, are tax-free. 许多基本食物如牛奶和面包是免税的。

10 imperialism   

n.帝国主义，帝国主义政策

参考例句：

• They held the imperialism in contempt.他们鄙视帝国主义。
• Imperialism has not been able to subjugate China.帝国主义不能征服中国。

11 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

12 dented   

v.使产生凹痕( dent的过去式和过去分词 )；损害；伤害；挫伤（信心、名誉等）

参考例句：

• The back of the car was badly dented in the collision. 汽车尾部被撞后严重凹陷。
• I'm afraid I've dented the car. 恐怕我把车子撞瘪了一些。 来自《简明英汉词典》