Death in the Bottles: Doctors speak on Nigeria’s soft drinks

By AYOOLA OLAOLUWA
Drinking Fanta, Coca Cola, and Sprite, used to be chilly indulgences for both the poor and the rich on hot tropical days; but not anymore. In news that stunned the soda-drinking public, an innocent case of British health officials destroying padded crates of soda drinks exported from Nigeria to the United Kingdom (UK) in 2007, has opened up a Pandora box of health issues concerning the safety of soda drinks in Nigeria. Indeed Nigeria’s top soda brands have suddenly but sharply come under siege.

In a scathing commentary on the quality of soda drinks exported from Nigeria to the UK, British health officials alleged that the level of Benzoic acid contained in Nigeria’s carbonated drinks were unsafe for human consumption. They also asserted that the principal colouring ingredient for the drinks, particularly Fanta, Sunset yellow, was equally harmful in the quantity with which it was used.

For many years, Nigerians have suffered unexplained ailments as they keep consuming poisonous drinks in the name of soda (or ‘soft’) drinks. However, the likely culprit was unmasked last week when a Lagos High Court judge directed the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to mandate the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) to include a warning on its bottles of Fanta and Sprite that its contents cannot be taken with Vitamin C because of its poisonous effect.

According to the presiding judge, Justice Adedayo Oyebanji, having NAFDAC approved numbers, which give the drinks acceptance in the market, does not actually mean that the products are safe for human consumption.

The journey began ten years ago when a Lagos-based businessman, Dr. Emmanuel Fijabi Adebo, and his company, Fijabi Adebo Holdings Limited, dragged the NBC Plc and NAFDAC to court, alleging that they purchased from NBC large quantities of Coca-Cola, Fanta Orange, Sprite, Fanta Lemon, Fanta Pineapple and Soda Water for export to the United Kingdom for retail purposes and supply to their customers in the United Kingdom.

When the consignment of the soft drinks arrived in United Kingdom, fundamental health related matters were raised on the contents and composition of the Fanta and Sprite products by the United Kingdom Health Authorities, specifically the Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council’s Trading Standard Department of Environment and Economy Directorate.

The findings of health officials in the United Kingdom were also corroborated by the Coca-Cola European Union and products were found to have excessive levels of “Sunset Yellow and Benzoic Acid which are unsafe for human consumption”.

Due to the irregularities and harmful content of the soft drinks, which can cause cancer to the consumer, the claimants could not sell the Fanta and Sprite products resulting in appreciable losses, as they were certified unsuitable for consumption and were seized and destroyed by the United Kingdom health authorities.

The claimants alleged that NBC was negligent to its consumers by bottling Fanta and Sprite with excessive levels of benzoic acid and sunset additives while NAFDAC failed to carry out necessary tests to determine if the soft drinks were safe for human consumption.

He also urged the court to order NAFDAC to carry out routine laboratory tests on all the soft drinks and related products that NBC was bottling to ascertain their safety for consumption.

The court finally ruled on the case last week, awarding a cost of N2m against NAFDAC and mandated NBC to print a warning on bottles of Fanta and Sprite that its contents cannot be taken with Vitamin C.

Since the damning revelation from the court last week, Nigerian consumers have continued to live in fear while the indicted culprits, NAFDAC and NBC have tried in vain to absolve themselves of blame. However, Business Hallmark investigation revealed that the soft drinks, consumed with some drugs or foods, are indeed injurious to health.

Checks revealed that the level of benzoic acid in soft drinks produced in the country is extremely higher than those from other countries. A NAFDAC document obtained at the weekend shows that while the standard limit of benzoic acid in the United Kingdom is 150mg per kilogramme, the standard level for Nigeria is 250mg/kg.

According to the Medical Director of Victorian Medical Centre, Oko-Oba, Lagos, who is also a nutritionist, Dr. Moses Olagbaju, sodium benzoate, which is a carcinogenic additive (cancer causing additive), is a preservative, a chemical compound derived from a reaction of benzoic acid and sodium hydroxide.

“Though some food regulatory bodies across the world say it is safe because the amount used to preserve foods is very low, it should never ever be combined in large quantity or with Vitamin C. Research has shown that sodium benzoate and vitamin C or even citric acid can react to form Benzene, a known carcinogen.

“And as most drinks in the country contain sodium benzoate, if taken with vitamin C, benzene would be formed.

“I read NBC arguing that the quantity of benzoic and ascorbic acids in their drinks are too small to have health implications. However, cancer in most cases if not all cases is as a result of cumulative effects of carcinogen in the human system. In Nigeria, people drink soft drinks like water. Over time, the effect will probably begin to manifest”, Olagbaju said.

Checks by BH show that sodium benzoic is among the cheapest if not the cheapest mold inhibitor in the market. As a preservative, it helps to extend the shelf life of foods and drinks. But with vitamin C, it shortens human life.

Another medical expert who spoke with BH, Dr Peju Damole, said that Nigerians should be concerned about the sodium level in soft drinks and other consumables because aside benzoic and ascorbic acids, the high level of sodium in soft drinks and other consumables pose a lot of risk to humans.

“Benzoic acid is a preservative used in foods and drinks. There are other preservatives like alpha tens, a sweetener. It is a class of protein that is harmful to people living with kidney failure. There are drinks, which have alpha ten specific warnings on their labels and I think the NBC should do the same.

“Vitamin C is a common drug and when you take it with soft drinks, a gas is released and it can affect the kidney and the liver. NBC should come out with a better defence. Their defence that the benzoic acid in the drink is still within acceptable limits is not acceptable”, he said.

According to The Codex Alimentarius or “Food Code”, which was established by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1963 to protect consumer health and promote fair practices in food trade, signs of benzene toxicity are nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. Lethality (for both inhaled and ingested benzene) has been attributed to respiratory arrest, central nervous system depression, or suspected cardiac collapse

Benzoic acid and benzoates are common additives to food, drinks and other products. They are useful chemicals in manufactured products because they kill or inhibit both bacteria and fungi and can act as preservatives. In general, the chemicals are considered to be safe when they are used in small quantities. However, there are some situations in which they may be harmful.

Benzoates are derived from benzoic acid and are more commonly used as food preservatives than the acid. Some people develop allergy-like symptoms when they are exposed to sodium benzoate. When the chemical reacts with vitamin C (ascorbic acid) in drinks under certain conditions, benzene may be produced. Benzene is a carcinogen. A carcinogen is a substance that is capable of causing cancer.

According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), human exposure to benzene has been associated with a range of acute and long-term adverse health effects and diseases, including cancer and aplastic anaemia.

“Benzene causes acute myeloid leukaemia (acute non-lymphocytic leukaemia), and there is limited evidence that benzene may also cause acute and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and multiple myeloma,” IARC noted.

Checks on medical sites also revealed that majority of soft drinks produced in the country contain large amounts of refined sugar content of up to 15 teaspoons each in a 325 ml can. One can a day gives a consumer more sugar than is necessary for his body.

Sugar erodes teeth, increases your risks of diabetes, heart disease, indigestion and skin problems. As sugar enters the bloodstream and increases the sugar level rapidly, it causes a dependency situation whereby the body craves for a constant flow of sugar to maintain its levels.

This keeps a consumer craving for more, creating a vicious cycle that gets him hooked.

In the same vein, soft drinks disguised as “diet soda” or “tonic water” contain calorie-reduced sweeteners such as aspartame, acesulfame-K, saccharin or sucralose. Aspartame is 200 times sweeter than sugar, so very little is used to sweeten the soft drink. It does enhance the taste of the drink but it also causes numerous adverse side effects. Common complaints include migraine, memory loss, emotional disorders, blurred vision, ringing in the ears, heart palpitations, and shortness of breath.

Acesulfame-K (Ace-K) is 100-200 times sweeter than sugar, with a slight bitter after-taste. Initial tests have indicated that this substance may be carcinogenic. Even though thorough tests are still incomplete, there are reasons to be careful not to ingest this compound as tests on lab animals have shown rapid increase in cancerous tumours.

Saccharin is a non-nutritive sweetener, which is 300 times sweeter than sugar. It has been proven to cause bladder cancer and is banned in Canada, New Zealand and several European countries. Saccharin is found to be present in Pepsi Diet, Diet Coke and Diet Sarsi.

Efforts to get the reaction of NAFDAC on the story was futile as calls placed to its spokesperson, Christiana Obiazikwor, rang out unanswered.

However, the Acting Director General of NAFDAC, Mrs. Yetunde Oni, had earlier in a text message to media houses from Vienna, Austria, where she is on official assignment, said that the agency is a national regulatory authority and would react both scientifically and legally to the judgement.

“Our lawyer has filed an appeal and a motion to stay execution of action of the judgement also filed,” she said.

In its own reaction, the Nigerian Bottling Company held that the company had not breached its duty of care to consumers, while at the same time reaffirming its unwavering commitment to product quality, safety and consumer satisfaction.

“Both Benzoic Acid and Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) are ingredients approved by international food safety regulators and used in many food and beverage products around the world. These ingredients are also used in combination in some products within levels which may differ from one country to another as approved by the respective national food and drug regulators in line with the range prescribed by CODEX, the joint intergovernmental body responsible for harmonizing international food standards.

“All Coca-Cola products, including Fanta and Sprite, produced and sold in Nigeria contain quantities and combinations of various ingredients in line with the CODEX standards and the national levels approved by NAFDAC. While Fanta contains a combination of Benzoic and Ascorbic Acids, Sprite does not contain Ascorbic Acid (only Benzoic Acid). The recent court order relating to this matter has been appealed by NAFDAC and the Nigerian Bottling Company Limited respectively,” said NBC’s Public Affairs and Communications Director, Mrs. Sade Morgan.

In her reaction, the President of Consumer Advocacy Foundation of Nigeria, Ms. Sola Salako, said that her group has concluded plans to institute a class-action suit against the Nigerian Bottling Company if it is established that an infraction was committed against consumers of its products, Fanta and Sprite.

She, however, said that the first step would be to consult NAFDAC to find out how it arrived at the level of benzoic and ascorbic acids to be used in producing soft drinks for consumption in Nigeria and why the global standard was different from that applicable in the country.

“First, we have to ascertain from NAFDAC how they arrived at a different standard limit of benzoic acid for soft drinks meant for consumption in Nigeria.

“What is the condition of the laboratories that the tests were carried out to determine this standard? In the last 10 years, how many studies have been carried out to determine the changes in the lifestyle of consumers?

“The standard limit of benzoic acid in the United Kingdom is 150mg per kilogramme, while the standard level for Nigeria is 250mg/kg. That is too high!” she said.

She also suggested that it was possible that when the 250mg/kg standard was set, people were not consuming as much soft drinks as they were currently consuming, adding that there might be a need to review the standard.

Salako faulted the reaction of the NBC that because NAFDAC had approved the standard, it was not bothered.

“They should be concerned about the health of their consumers. I would have expected them to say that in the light of the current concerns, they would consider reducing the level of the acids, because there have been a lot of health concerns with the consumption of soft drinks and sugar these days,” she stated.