Benzene in soft drinks
Encyclopedia
Benzene in soft drinks is of some concern due to the carcinogen
ic nature of the benzene
molecule. This contamination is a public health
concern and has caused significant outcry among environmental and health advocates. Benzene levels are regulated in drinking water nationally and internationally, and in bottled water in the United States, but only informally in soft drinks. The benzene results from decarboxylation
of the preservative
benzoic acid
in the presence of ascorbic acid
(vitamin C) especially under heat and light.
/kg).
The EPA
and California
have set public health goals for benzene of 0 ppb and 0.15 ppb respectively.
The UK Food Standards Agency has stated that people would need to drink at least 20 litres (5.5 gal) per day of a drink containing benzene at 10 μg to equal the amount of benzene they would breathe from city air every day. Daily personal exposure to benzene is determined by adding exposure from all sources.
of benzoic acid
in the presence of ascorbic acid
(vitamin C, E300) or erythorbic acid
(a diastereomer
of ascorbic acid, E315). Benzoic acid
is often added to drinks as a preservative
in the form of its salts sodium benzoate
(E211), potassium benzoate
(E 212), or calcium benzoate
(E 213). Citric acid
is not thought to induce significant benzene production in combination with benzoic acid, but some evidence suggests that in the presence of ascorbic or erythorbic acid and benzoic acid, citric acid may accelerate the production of benzene.
Other factors that affect the formation of benzene are heat and light. Storing soft drinks in warm conditions speeds up the formation of benzene.
Calcium disodium EDTA
and sugars have been shown to inhibit benzene production in soft drinks.
The International Council of Beverages Associations has produced advice to prevent or minimize benzene formation.
in bottles of Perrier
for sale in the United States. The parent company of Perrier shifted from one explanation to another on the issue, finally stating that it was an isolated incident of a worker having made a mistake in the filtering procedure.
In the early 1990s, the soft drink industry initially approached FDA
with concerns about benzene
formation in soft drinks. Following testing, FDA asked manufacturers to voluntarily reformulate. By 1993, FDA determined that most drinks had little benzene
contamination.
In 1993, research showed how benzene can form from benzoic acid in the presence of vitamin C .
In the summer of 1998, a number of well known soft drinks manufacturers had to withdraw large quantities of their products from sale after benzene contamination in some production plants was discovered.
received test results conducted by private citizens that benzene was forming at low levels in several types of beverages.
In December 2005, Germany
's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung) published a review of benzene's possible formation in foods and drinks.
at the FDA publicly revealed that benzene
may be created as part of a chemical reaction during production of soft drink
s, particularly those having an orange
flavor. Full scale investigations immediately started at the Food Standards Agency
(UK
) and in Germany
to reveal exactly which amounts of benzene, if any, were present, with several other organizations awaiting their findings.
The United Kingdom
's Food Standards Agency
released results on March 31, 2006 for 150 beverages. Its results showed 43 beverages contained benzene, four of which contained levels above the World Health Organization
drinking water standards (10 ppb
). These four were withdrawn from sale.
In April 2006, the Korea Food & Drug Administration
(KFDA) announced that it had detected benzene in 27 out of 30 vitamin-enriched drinks on sale in South Korea
. It said the detected amount of benzene – ranging from 5.7 to 87.8 ppb – was not harmful to humans but advised manufacturers of beverages containing more than 10 ppb of benzene to voluntarily recall their products.
The FDA
released preliminary results in May 2006 for 100 beverages showing that many soft drinks contained low levels of benzene (less than 5 ppb
, the federal drinking water limit) while four drinks contained amounts above the standard. Two of these drinks contained amounts 15-18 times above the drinking water standard. Many of the products showed large variations in the amount of benzene they contained. The FDA stated that it is working with manufacturers to reformulate products that contain benzene above the federal drinking water standard.
These test results are both lower and more accurate than a previous long-term study by the FDA. In the Total Diet Study that FDA conducted from 1996 - 2001 to determine the amounts of volatile organic compounds in various foods, FDA used an analytical
procedure that caused more benzene to form in the drinks during the test.
The FDA
emphasized that most beverages contain levels below 5 ppb
and pose no risk to consumers. Furthermore, there are no standards for beverages beyond drinking and bottled water. A watchdog organization, the Environmental Working Group
, had previously called on the FDA
to release its results. The EWG
also criticized the FDA for not acting on the Total Diet Study results showing the nearly 80% of the diet soft drinks exceeded the federal drinking water standards.
On 9 June 2006, Health Canada
released its study results of benzene levels in beverages. Four products had levels above the Canadian guideline of five micrograms per litre for benzene in drinking water.
On 24 August 2006, two soft drink manufacturers agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit that had been filed by a group of parents in the District of Columbia Superior Court
. The two companies, Zone Brands Inc., maker of "BellyWashers" products, and TalkingRain Beverage Co., denied that their products were harmful, but agreed to change the ingredients in their drinks.
announced that it would be phasing out sodium benzoate from many of its drinks, but not Fanta
and Dr Pepper
. As of January 2010, Coca Cola Zero still contains benzoate (added as potassium salt).
A Belgian study found plastic packaging to play an important role in the formation of benzene in soft drinks.
Carcinogen
A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that is an agent directly involved in causing cancer. This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes...
ic nature of the benzene
Benzene
Benzene is an organic chemical compound. It is composed of 6 carbon atoms in a ring, with 1 hydrogen atom attached to each carbon atom, with the molecular formula C6H6....
molecule. This contamination is a public health
Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
concern and has caused significant outcry among environmental and health advocates. Benzene levels are regulated in drinking water nationally and internationally, and in bottled water in the United States, but only informally in soft drinks. The benzene results from decarboxylation
Decarboxylation
Decarboxylation is a chemical reaction that releases carbon dioxide . Usually, decarboxylation refers to a reaction of carboxylic acids, removing a carbon atom from a carbon chain. The reverse process, which is the first chemical step in photosynthesis, is called carbonation, the addition of CO2 to...
of the preservative
Preservative
A preservative is a naturally occurring or synthetically produced substance that is added to products such as foods, pharmaceuticals, paints, biological samples, wood, etc. to prevent decomposition by microbial growth or by undesirable chemical changes....
benzoic acid
Benzoic acid
Benzoic acid , C7H6O2 , is a colorless crystalline solid and the simplest aromatic carboxylic acid. The name derived from gum benzoin, which was for a long time the only source for benzoic acid. Its salts are used as a food preservative and benzoic acid is an important precursor for the synthesis...
in the presence of ascorbic acid
Ascorbic acid
Ascorbic acid is a naturally occurring organic compound with antioxidant properties. It is a white solid, but impure samples can appear yellowish. It dissolves well in water to give mildly acidic solutions. Ascorbic acid is one form of vitamin C. The name is derived from a- and scorbutus , the...
(vitamin C) especially under heat and light.
Limit standards in drinking water
Various authorities have set limits on benzene content in drinking water. The following limits are given in parts per billion (ppb; μgMicrogram
In the metric system, a microgram is a unit of mass equal to one millionth of a gram , or 1/1000 of a milligram. It is one of the smallest units of mass commonly used...
/kg).
- World Health OrganizationWorld Health OrganizationThe World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
(WHO): 10 ppb (WHO notes that benzene should be avoided whenever technically feasible.) - Republic of Korea (South KoreaSouth KoreaThe Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
): 10 ppb - CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
: 5 ppb - United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
: 5 ppb - European UnionEuropean UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
: 1 ppb - State limits within the United States: CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, ConnecticutConnecticutConnecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, New JerseyNew JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, and FloridaFloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
: 1 ppb
The EPA
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
and California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
have set public health goals for benzene of 0 ppb and 0.15 ppb respectively.
Environmental exposure to benzene
Benzene in soft drinks has to be seen in the context of other environmental exposure. Taking the worst example found to date of a soft drink containing 87.9 ppb benzene, someone drinking a 350 ml (12 oz) can would ingest 31 μg (micrograms) of benzene. While there is no justification for a soft drink to contain high levels of benzene ("There is a difference here between a small and unavoidable risk, and a small but avoidable risk.”), the casual consumption of such a drink is unlikely to pose a significant health hazard to a particular individual (see, for example, the EPA IRIS document on benzene). However, spread out over millions of people consuming soft drinks each day, there might be a small number of cancers caused by this exposure.The UK Food Standards Agency has stated that people would need to drink at least 20 litres (5.5 gal) per day of a drink containing benzene at 10 μg to equal the amount of benzene they would breathe from city air every day. Daily personal exposure to benzene is determined by adding exposure from all sources.
- Air: A European study found that people breathe in 220 μg of benzene every day due to general atmospheric pollution. A motorist refilling a fuel tank for three minutes would inhale a further 32 μg. The estimated daily exposure from "automobile-related activities" is 49 μg and for driving for one hour is 40 μg.
- Smoking: For smokers, cigarette smoking is the main source of exposure to benzene. Estimates are 7900 μg per day (smoking 20 cigarettes per day), 1820 μg/day, and 1800 µg/day.
- Passive smokingPassive smokingPassive smoking is the inhalation of smoke, called secondhand smoke or environmental tobacco smoke , from tobacco products used by others. It occurs when tobacco smoke permeates any environment, causing its inhalation by people within that environment. Exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke causes...
: Benzene intake from passive smoking is estimated at 63 μg/day (Canada) and 50 µg/day.
- Diet and drinking water: 0.2 to 3.1 μg per day
Formation in soft drinks
The major cause of benzene in soft drinks is the decarboxylationDecarboxylation
Decarboxylation is a chemical reaction that releases carbon dioxide . Usually, decarboxylation refers to a reaction of carboxylic acids, removing a carbon atom from a carbon chain. The reverse process, which is the first chemical step in photosynthesis, is called carbonation, the addition of CO2 to...
of benzoic acid
Benzoic acid
Benzoic acid , C7H6O2 , is a colorless crystalline solid and the simplest aromatic carboxylic acid. The name derived from gum benzoin, which was for a long time the only source for benzoic acid. Its salts are used as a food preservative and benzoic acid is an important precursor for the synthesis...
in the presence of ascorbic acid
Ascorbic acid
Ascorbic acid is a naturally occurring organic compound with antioxidant properties. It is a white solid, but impure samples can appear yellowish. It dissolves well in water to give mildly acidic solutions. Ascorbic acid is one form of vitamin C. The name is derived from a- and scorbutus , the...
(vitamin C, E300) or erythorbic acid
Erythorbic acid
Erythorbic acid, formerly known as isoascorbic acid and D-araboascorbic acid, is a stereoisomer of ascorbic acid . It is a vegetable-derived food additive produced from sucrose. It is denoted by E number E315, and is widely used as an antioxidant in processed foods.Clinical trials have been...
(a diastereomer
Diastereomer
Diastereomers are stereoisomers that are not enantiomers.Diastereomerism occurs when two or more stereoisomers of a compound have different configurations at one or more of the equivalent stereocenters and are not mirror images of each other.When two diastereoisomers differ from each other at...
of ascorbic acid, E315). Benzoic acid
Benzoic acid
Benzoic acid , C7H6O2 , is a colorless crystalline solid and the simplest aromatic carboxylic acid. The name derived from gum benzoin, which was for a long time the only source for benzoic acid. Its salts are used as a food preservative and benzoic acid is an important precursor for the synthesis...
is often added to drinks as a preservative
Preservative
A preservative is a naturally occurring or synthetically produced substance that is added to products such as foods, pharmaceuticals, paints, biological samples, wood, etc. to prevent decomposition by microbial growth or by undesirable chemical changes....
in the form of its salts sodium benzoate
Sodium benzoate
Sodium benzoate has the chemical formula NaC6H5CO2; it is a widely used food preservative, with E number E211. It is the sodium salt of benzoic acid and exists in this form when dissolved in water. It can be produced by reacting sodium hydroxide with benzoic acid.-Uses:Sodium benzoate is a...
(E211), potassium benzoate
Potassium benzoate
Potassium benzoate , the potassium salt of benzoic acid, is a food preservative that inhibits the growth of mold, yeast and some bacteria...
(E 212), or calcium benzoate
Calcium benzoate
Calcium benzoate refers to the calcium salt of benzoic acid. When used in the food industry as a preservative, its E number is E213 ; it is approved for use as a food additive in the EU, USA and Australia and New Zealand....
(E 213). Citric acid
Citric acid
Citric acid is a weak organic acid. It is a natural preservative/conservative and is also used to add an acidic, or sour, taste to foods and soft drinks...
is not thought to induce significant benzene production in combination with benzoic acid, but some evidence suggests that in the presence of ascorbic or erythorbic acid and benzoic acid, citric acid may accelerate the production of benzene.
Other factors that affect the formation of benzene are heat and light. Storing soft drinks in warm conditions speeds up the formation of benzene.
Calcium disodium EDTA
EDTA
Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, widely abbreviated as EDTA , is a polyamino carboxylic acid and a colourless, water-soluble solid. Its conjugate base is named ethylenediaminetetraacetate. It is widely used to dissolve limescale. Its usefulness arises because of its role as a hexadentate ligand...
and sugars have been shown to inhibit benzene production in soft drinks.
The International Council of Beverages Associations has produced advice to prevent or minimize benzene formation.
1990s
In 1990, a study reported having found unsafe levels of benzeneBenzene
Benzene is an organic chemical compound. It is composed of 6 carbon atoms in a ring, with 1 hydrogen atom attached to each carbon atom, with the molecular formula C6H6....
in bottles of Perrier
Perrier
Perrier is a brand of bottled mineral water made from a spring in Vergèze in the Gard département of France. The spring is naturally carbonated...
for sale in the United States. The parent company of Perrier shifted from one explanation to another on the issue, finally stating that it was an isolated incident of a worker having made a mistake in the filtering procedure.
In the early 1990s, the soft drink industry initially approached FDA
Food and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...
with concerns about benzene
Benzene
Benzene is an organic chemical compound. It is composed of 6 carbon atoms in a ring, with 1 hydrogen atom attached to each carbon atom, with the molecular formula C6H6....
formation in soft drinks. Following testing, FDA asked manufacturers to voluntarily reformulate. By 1993, FDA determined that most drinks had little benzene
Benzene
Benzene is an organic chemical compound. It is composed of 6 carbon atoms in a ring, with 1 hydrogen atom attached to each carbon atom, with the molecular formula C6H6....
contamination.
In 1993, research showed how benzene can form from benzoic acid in the presence of vitamin C .
In the summer of 1998, a number of well known soft drinks manufacturers had to withdraw large quantities of their products from sale after benzene contamination in some production plants was discovered.
2005
In November 2005, the FDAFood and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...
received test results conducted by private citizens that benzene was forming at low levels in several types of beverages.
In December 2005, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung) published a review of benzene's possible formation in foods and drinks.
2006
In February 2006, an unnamed former chemistChemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
at the FDA publicly revealed that benzene
Benzene
Benzene is an organic chemical compound. It is composed of 6 carbon atoms in a ring, with 1 hydrogen atom attached to each carbon atom, with the molecular formula C6H6....
may be created as part of a chemical reaction during production of soft drink
Soft drink
A soft drink is a non-alcoholic beverage that typically contains water , a sweetener, and a flavoring agent...
s, particularly those having an orange
Orange (fruit)
An orange—specifically, the sweet orange—is the citrus Citrus × sinensis and its fruit. It is the most commonly grown tree fruit in the world....
flavor. Full scale investigations immediately started at the Food Standards Agency
Food Standards Agency
The Food Standards Agency is a non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for protecting public health in relation to food throughout the United Kingdom and is led by a board appointed to act in the public interest...
(UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
) and in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
to reveal exactly which amounts of benzene, if any, were present, with several other organizations awaiting their findings.
The United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
's Food Standards Agency
Food Standards Agency
The Food Standards Agency is a non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for protecting public health in relation to food throughout the United Kingdom and is led by a board appointed to act in the public interest...
released results on March 31, 2006 for 150 beverages. Its results showed 43 beverages contained benzene, four of which contained levels above the World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
drinking water standards (10 ppb
PPB
PPB can stand for:* Party political broadcast, a type of political programming in the United Kingdom* parts-per-billion, a unit of concentration* Portland Police Bureau, a police agency for the city of Portland...
). These four were withdrawn from sale.
In April 2006, the Korea Food & Drug Administration
Korea Food & Drug Administration
The Korea Food & Drug Administration is a South Korea government agency responsible for promoting the public health by ensuring the safety and efficiency of foods, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and cosmetics as well as supporting the development of the food and pharmaceutical industries...
(KFDA) announced that it had detected benzene in 27 out of 30 vitamin-enriched drinks on sale in South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
. It said the detected amount of benzene – ranging from 5.7 to 87.8 ppb – was not harmful to humans but advised manufacturers of beverages containing more than 10 ppb of benzene to voluntarily recall their products.
The FDA
Food and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...
released preliminary results in May 2006 for 100 beverages showing that many soft drinks contained low levels of benzene (less than 5 ppb
PPB
PPB can stand for:* Party political broadcast, a type of political programming in the United Kingdom* parts-per-billion, a unit of concentration* Portland Police Bureau, a police agency for the city of Portland...
, the federal drinking water limit) while four drinks contained amounts above the standard. Two of these drinks contained amounts 15-18 times above the drinking water standard. Many of the products showed large variations in the amount of benzene they contained. The FDA stated that it is working with manufacturers to reformulate products that contain benzene above the federal drinking water standard.
These test results are both lower and more accurate than a previous long-term study by the FDA. In the Total Diet Study that FDA conducted from 1996 - 2001 to determine the amounts of volatile organic compounds in various foods, FDA used an analytical
Analytical technique
An analytical technique is a method that is used to determine the concentration of a chemical compound or chemical element. There are a wide variety of techniques used for analysis, from simple weighing to titrations to very advanced techniques using highly specialized instrumentation...
procedure that caused more benzene to form in the drinks during the test.
The FDA
Food and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...
emphasized that most beverages contain levels below 5 ppb
PPB
PPB can stand for:* Party political broadcast, a type of political programming in the United Kingdom* parts-per-billion, a unit of concentration* Portland Police Bureau, a police agency for the city of Portland...
and pose no risk to consumers. Furthermore, there are no standards for beverages beyond drinking and bottled water. A watchdog organization, the Environmental Working Group
Environmental Working Group
The Environmental Working Group is an American environmental organization that specializes in research and advocacy in the areas of toxic chemicals, agricultural subsidies, public lands, and corporate accountability...
, had previously called on the FDA
Food and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...
to release its results. The EWG
Environmental Working Group
The Environmental Working Group is an American environmental organization that specializes in research and advocacy in the areas of toxic chemicals, agricultural subsidies, public lands, and corporate accountability...
also criticized the FDA for not acting on the Total Diet Study results showing the nearly 80% of the diet soft drinks exceeded the federal drinking water standards.
On 9 June 2006, Health Canada
Health Canada
Health Canada is the department of the government of Canada with responsibility for national public health.The current Minister of Health is Leona Aglukkaq, a Conservative Member of Parliament appointed to the position by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.-Branches, regions and agencies:Health Canada...
released its study results of benzene levels in beverages. Four products had levels above the Canadian guideline of five micrograms per litre for benzene in drinking water.
On 24 August 2006, two soft drink manufacturers agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit that had been filed by a group of parents in the District of Columbia Superior Court
Superior court
In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general competence which typically has unlimited jurisdiction with regard to civil and criminal legal cases...
. The two companies, Zone Brands Inc., maker of "BellyWashers" products, and TalkingRain Beverage Co., denied that their products were harmful, but agreed to change the ingredients in their drinks.
2008
Coca-ColaCoca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
announced that it would be phasing out sodium benzoate from many of its drinks, but not Fanta
Fanta
Fanta is a global brand of fruit-flavored carbonated soft drinks from the Coca-Cola Company. There are over 90 flavors worldwide. The drink debuted in Germany in 1941 and originally sold only in Europe.-History:...
and Dr Pepper
Dr Pepper
Dr Pepper is a soft drink, marketed as having a unique flavor. The drink was created in the 1880s by Charles Alderton of Waco, Texas and first served around 1885. Dr Pepper was first nationally marketed in the United States in 1904 and is now also sold in Europe, Asia, Canada, Mexico, Australia ...
. As of January 2010, Coca Cola Zero still contains benzoate (added as potassium salt).
A Belgian study found plastic packaging to play an important role in the formation of benzene in soft drinks.