Coca Cola Settles Lawsuit Alleging Benzene in Soft Drinks

By Jennifer Griffith

Published on May 15, 2007

Coke’s Vault Zero and Fanta Pineapple were among numerous beverages named in the suit, which was filed in May 2006. Other defendants include Sunny Delight, Pepsi, Shasta, and Rockstar energy drink. Monday’s settlement did not include these other companies.

Concern over benzene in beverages came to a head last year after an investigation by beveragedaily.com and US lawyer Ron Getman. According to the investigation, the preservative sodium benzoate can combine with ascorbic acid or citric acid to form benzene.

In September 2006, Coke changed its recipes for both Vault Zero and Fanta Pineapple in order to minimize the potential for benzene formation. Coke agreed not to sell any products made with the old recipe.

As part of Monday’s settlement, Coke will provide replacement beverages to anyone who purchased Vault Zero or Fanta Pineapple beverages before the new recipes were put into use in September 2006. Coke will also pay the plaintiffs’ attorney fees and pay each of the four plaintiffs $500.

In the settlement, Coke maintains the allegations against its beverages are false.

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