"An ingredient used in Coca-Cola and Pepsi is a cancer risk and should be banned, an influential lobby group has claimed.

The concerns relate to an artificial brown colouring agent that the researchers say could be causing thousands of cancers.

‘The caramel colouring used in Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and other foods is contaminated with two cancer-causing chemicals and should be banned,’ said the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a health lobby group based in Washington, DC.

‘In contrast to the caramel one might make at home by melting sugar in a saucepan, the artificial brown colouring in colas and some other products is made by reacting sugars with ammonia and sulphites under high pressure and temperatures."

Sean Poulter reports for the London Daily Mail February 17, 2011.
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SEE ALSO:

"FDA Asked To Ban Caramel Coloring" (NBC)
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"Coca-Cola Secret Recipe Revealed?: 'This American Life' Says It Hid In Plain Sight" (Huffington Post)
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