NEW DELHI: Rubbishing the charge that his Ministry was dilly-dallying on the issue of setting standards, Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss on Wednesday asserted that the task was done in a "scientific manner" and ruled out any probe to find out whether there were pesticides in colas.
"We are trying to do it in a scientific manner in specifying the standards," he said and asked where was the need for a probe.
He said the government had already notified standards for the water to be used for colas and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has been entrusted with the task of setting standards with regard to sugar content in soft drinks.
Ramadoss said ICMR would submit its report by March next year.
"Where is the question of investigation? It is the implementation of standards that matters," he said adding, consumer safety was the "most important priority" of his Ministry.
Ramadoss' comments came after the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) released a fresh study claiming the presence of "pesticide cocktail" in 11 brands of soft drink giants Coca Cola and PepsiCo.
CSE Director Sunita Narain alleged that the Health Ministry was opposing the implementation of the standards saying that "more research" needed to be done.
