MPs demand cola ban after pesticide claims

INDIAN MPs yesterday called for a ban on the sale of Pepsi and Coca-Cola after an independent research body claimed the soft drinks contain dangerous levels of pesticide residue.

Both companies have denied the allegations.

Canteens in the New Delhi parliament stopped selling the soft drinks yesterday after government and opposition MPs, in a rare display of unity, called for further investigations of the report by the Centre for Science and Environment. Health Minister Sushma Swaraj said the findings were startling, and the government had ordered a comprehensive probe of the allegations.