Punjab says colas safe to drink

Protesters say Coca-Cola may be unsafe

Officials in India's Punjab state have published "independent" test results which they say show that Coca-Cola and Pepsi are "safe" to drink.

Punjab's health minister said that laboratory analysis on 103 Coke and Pepsi samples showed that they were not contaminated by pesticides.

"They are well within permissible limits and therefore safe for consumption," Surinder Singla said.

On Monday the two companies began legal action to overturn a ban in Kerala.

'Harmful levels'

Mr Singla said that samples of Coke and Pepsi collected both from the market and from the manufacturers had the same level of pesticides as that permitted in drinking water.

He said that the tests were carried out by two separate laboratories in the state.

Mr Singla said the results of the tests led him to question the findings of the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) which recently said that Coke and Pepsi contained "harmful levels" of pesticides.

A number of other Indian states banned the drinks in schools and colleges, but with its outright ban, the southern state of Kerala went the furthest.

Coca-Cola and Pepsi on Monday began challenging the Kerala ban, pointing out that it had effectively closed a market of 30m potential customers.

A CSE official, Suparno Bannerjee, told the BBC that the Punjab government had reached the wrong conclusions.

"If what the minister is saying is correct, then both samples are breaching the norms which have been finalised by the Bureau of Indian Standards but not yet notified," he said.