Cola firms launch India legal fight

There have been protests in several cities against the cola giants

Soft drinks giants Coca-Cola and Pepsi have launched a legal challenge against bans on their products which have arisen following a watchdog report alleging they contain toxic chemicals.

The Indian defence ministry had issued a circular ordering all its clubs to stop selling the drinks.

Its move followed an allegation by an Indian environmental watchdog that some Coca-Cola and Pepsi drinks sold in the country contained more than the prescribed limit of toxic pesticides and insecticides.

The companies' challenge came as the health ministry ordered independent tests on the alleged pesticide content.

Both firms strenuously deny that their products contain any harmful chemicals.

A Coca-Cola Asia executive, David Cox, told the BBC: "We welcome the government's decision to test our products."

Pepsi filed a petition in the Delhi High Court on Friday requesting it to direct the government not to act on the basis of the report.

It also asked that the government should be directed to immediately set up a committee of experts to check the veracity of the reports.

The petition is likely to be heard on Monday.

Mr Cox said Coca-Cola Asia had approached the High Court in Bombay, also known as Mumbai, with a similar request.

'Wild allegations'

The BBC's Sanjeev Srivastava in Delhi says the traditional rivals have been forced to launch the joint campaign to save their reputation and market share.

Our tests will be done in independent labs and we'll take action only after examining the results Sushma Swaraj, Health Minister

The row over the products began on Tuesday when India's Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said it had tested samples from the two leading cola brands and found four toxic chemicals: lindane, DDT, malathion and chlorpyrifos.

The report led to the national parliament banning the sale of the drinks in its cafeterias.

The companies responded by stressing their products had passed stringent quality tests by accredited Indian and international laboratories.

PepsiCo India's chairman Rajeev Bakshi called the accusations "wild allegations... calculated to spread consumer panic".

India's Health Minister, Sushma Swaraj, then ordered tests but said she would only comment on the matter after the results were known - probably next week.

PepsiCo India said the allegations were intended to spread panic

The row has sparked protests by hardline Hindu nationalists.

In Allahabad, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, 20 members of the Shiv Sena party attacked retail shops selling the drinks.

In Bombay, activists defaced posters and smashed bottles.

Several states, including Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala and West Bengal, are also carrying out their own tests on the products.

Kodela Siva Prasadrao, health minister of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, said: "In the wake of the CSE report, we will conduct random tests. We have to establish the case, before we punish anybody."

In Kerala, the health department has collected cola samples from five districts and sent them for testing.