News Releases

American Beverage Association Statement about FDA 2006 Benzene Review

Once again, the Food and Drug Administration has closely reviewed beverages for the presence of benzene and found no public health concern. The FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) said today of its recent review: “The results of CFSAN’s 2005/2006 survey indicate that the levels of benzene found in soft drinks and other beverages to date do not pose a safety concern for consumers.”

Repeated reviews by the FDA over the years continue to turn up the same answer: there is no threat to the health of consumers.

Throughout the latest review process, the beverage industry worked closely with the FDA, providing information about our products and developing guidelines for our industry to mitigate the potential formation of benzene. The American Beverage Association is circulating our new guidance document throughout the industry so that the potential formation of benzene can be minimized to the greatest extent possible.

Benzene is found throughout the environment. It’s in the air we breathe and occurs naturally in dozens of foods we eat, such as bananas, meats and eggs. Thus, its mere presence in particular foods or beverages does not pose a health concern.

Some suggest that soft drinks should meet the EPA standard for drinking water, which is 5 parts per billion. (There is no standard for soft drinks.) In establishing regulatory limits for contaminants in drinking water, EPA uses certain assumptions. Those assumptions include consuming 2 liters of water, from the same source, every day for 70 years. FDA has not established similar assumptions for soft drinks. Also, the 5 ppb limit often cited for drinking water is based not on single samples, but rather on an annual aggregate average.

Similarly, bananas, ground beef, cheese, butter, eggs, avocados and popsicles are among foods that have been found at times to have benzene at levels greater than the water standard of 5 ppb. But again, the FDA has not issued health concerns for those foods either. In fact, it has been estimated that 95 percent of the human exposure to benzene is from breathing, not from foods or beverages.

Our industry remains dedicated to minimizing the potential formation of benzene in particular soft drinks. We are taking advantage of modern technology and communication tools to make sure the best practices are shared throughout our industry, worldwide.

The industry’s foremost commitment is to its valued customers. We are an industry whose customers invite us into their lives billions of times a day throughout the world.

Our top priority will always be to ensure the quality and safety of our products through rigorous food safety procedures.