Today is one of those days I love having a blog.
With all the other news of the day the producer and I negotiated 1:15 for this story on benzene and soft drinks. It's tough to set up the issue and present all the sides in 75 seconds or less, but I understand we have some really big news and there was no way around the time crunch. But the blog allows me to share with you some of the information I couldn't include in tonite's story. Before, the story would have been the end of it.
Enough about that.. those of you who regularly pop by here (hi Joe) know I'm a fan of this medium so here's the really important stuff you need to know:
Learn more about benzene:
CDC
Wikipedia
The FDA's letter on benzene
Click here
Commercial Alert's concerns
Click here
American Beverage Association statement
Clikc here
Two print writeups on the issue:
This from the associated press yesterday:
FDA finds benzene levels in soft drinks above tap water limit
By LIBBY QUAID AP Food and Farm Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Cancer-causing benzene has been found in soft drinks at levels above the limit considered safe for drinking water, the Food and Drug Administration acknowledged Wednesday.
Even so, the FDA still believes there are no safety concerns about benzene in soft drinks, or sodas, said Laura Tarantino, the agency's director of food additive safety.
"We haven't changed our view that right now, there is not a safety concern, not a public health concern," she said. "But what we need to do is understand how benzene forms and to ensure the industry is doing everything to avoid those circumstances."
The admission contradicted statements last week, when officials said FDA found insignificant levels of benzene.
In fact, a different study found benzene at four times the tap water limit, on average, in 19 of 24 samples of diet soda.
Tarantino said chemists may have overestimated the amount of benzene and that levels in diet soda were still relatively low compared with other sources of benzene exposure.
The samples were collected as part of the FDA's ongoing Total Diet Study, which looks for contaminants and nutrients in many foods and beverages.
FDA has been doing a separate study of benzene in soft drinks, but it is not ready to release the results, Tarantino said.
The Environmental Working Group has accused the FDA of suppressing information about benzene in soft drinks.
"If they're so confident the situation is not a safety risk, they need to release the data to prove it," said Richard Wiles, the group's senior vice president. "The only data available to the public contradict their claim."
Benzene, a cancer-causing chemical linked to leukemia, can form naturally and is found in forest fires, gasoline and cigarette smoke. It's widely used in industrial production to make plastics, rubber, detergents, drugs and pesticides.
Benzene can also form in soft drinks made with Vitamin C and sodium or potassium benzoate. Heat, light and shelf life can affect whether benzene will form, according to FDA.
A spokesman for the American Beverage Association said the amount of soft drinks people consume is far less than the amount of tap water they are exposed to.
"You can crunch the numbers any way you want; it's still adding up to safe products," said the spokesman, Kevin Keane. "We're going to continue to work with FDA to ensure the safety of our products."
And this dated April 2nd...
Have a comment about benzene and soft drinks? Please share: sstricklen@kgw.com
Now this comment from Joanna about the car seat story. She makes a great point and I had no idea that car seats expired?!!
Just wanted to voice my opinion about the whole car seat issue. I don't think obesity is the only reason that people don't use the correct car seat. Car seats are so expensive!! The are necessary by all means but a good car seat is about $75+! Did you know that car seats expire??!!! I have 3 boys and have tried to recycle the car seats between the 2 older ones and I'm sure that one of them has been in an expired car seat or 2. For one...I didn't know they expired and for two, I can't always afford to go out and spend that much money on a car seat. I know that its required and I want to keep my kids safe. I think that more people would have their kids in the correct car seat, if they could afford their rapidly growing children. Thanks for listening. I hope you understand what I'm trying to say.
