The compound with links to cancer— 4-methylimidazole, or 4-MEI— is a result of the type of artificial caramel food coloring the corporation sources, a byproduct of caramel processed with ammonium compounds, acids, or alkalis. Already removed from Pepsi products in California, where the state’s stricter stance on chemicals forced soda companies to reformulate or include a warning label, recent tests commission by the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) found some Pepsi products sold outside of California still contain concerning levels of 4- MEI. There is a way around this. In 2012, the state of California added ammonia-caramel coloring as a carcinogen under the state’s Proposition 65 law. Soda containing more than 29 micrograms of 4- MEI now has to carry a warning by law in that state. In other parts of the country, there were no laws protecting soda-drinking consumers. But when March 2012 Center for Food Safety tests found some Coke and Pepsi products contained up to a whopping 150 micrograms in a can of soda, both corporate giants vowed to lower levels not just in California, but nationwide. The Center for Environmental Health says Coke has kept its promise, but Pepsi, not so much. “This shows how California’s Proposition 65 law can make products safer for all Californians, and in some cases for all Americas,” says Michael Green, executive director of CEH. “We applaud Coke for taking this health protective action for consumers nationwide. Pepsi’s delay is inexplicable. We urge the company to take swift action to provide all Americans with the same safer product they’re selling in California.” More from Prevention: 7 Side Effects of Drinking Diet Soda After the latest round of bad press emerging from the latest tests finding Pepsi still harbors the carcinogen, CEH says Pepsi emailed them a statement from PepsiCo Senior Director Aurora Gonzalez: “Our caramel-coloring suppliers have been working on modifying the manufacturing process to reduce the amount of 4-MEI. As you know, 4- MEI levels in our products in California are below Prop 65 levels. The rest of the U.S. will be completed by February 2014. In fact, we’ll be starting the process and shipping concentrate end of this year.” This harmful type of caramel food coloring hides out in other places, too, like soy and Worcestershire sauces. It’s sometimes used to not only darken soda, but breads, beer, meat, and gravy, too. It’s sometimes even used as a manmade ingredient that looks similar to cocoa in baked goods, Center for Science in the Public Interest says. More from Prevention: The Woman Who Only Drank Soda For 16 Years
