WASHINGTON - May 26 - How long will it take the FDA to act on its findings of high levels of cancer-causing benzene in popular soft drinks? EWG urges supermarket chains Giant and Safeway to act more quickly by only carrying drinks that don't contain the two ingredients than can combine to form benzene.

May 26, 2006

Barry Scher
Vice President for Public Affairs
Giant Foods
6300 Sheriff Road
Landover, MD 20785

Dear Mr. Scher:

As one of five beverage makers recently contacted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about levels of cancer-causing benzene in one of your products, we are glad to read that Giant Foods is taking action to reduce benzene levels in the most contaminated drinks identified by the FDA. But we would like to challenge you to do more.

Recent events have made clear that the 1990 voluntary agreement between the FDA and the beverage industry's lobbyists didn't solve the problem. Under pressure from the public, the FDA renewed its testing program for benzene in beverages, and recently disclosed their test results, which revealed significantly elevated benzene levels in some drinks.

While a good first step, the FDA's testing raised as many questions as it answered. The sample of products tested was relatively limited in relation to the overall product inventory that may be contaminated with benzene, and some of the levels found were extremely high—17 times higher than the level allowed in tap water. Or put another way, 17 times higher than you would be allowed to sell in bottled water.

Over 4,400 people signed a petition on our Web site asking the FDA to make sure no beverage company makes a product that can contain benzene. As a retailer, you are in a unique position to protect the public health from benzene in beverages; indeed, you may be in a better position to accomplish this goal than the FDA with its limited resources. One retailer of your size taking the lead could very likely clean up the entire beverage industry.

We would like to challenge you to seize this leadership role in protecting the public health from the artificially added, but totally unnecessary, combination of ingredients that can form benzene in beverages, by instituting a zero tolerance policy for benzene forming ingredients in beverages sold at Giant.

Consumers should be confident that every product on a supermarket's shelves is safe for themselves and their families. Given our shared commitment to public health, if we act now, we could likely solve the problem with minimal market disruption.

We hope you will lead the way today by requiring all of your suppliers to reformulate their beverages so every drink on a Giant Foods shelf can be benzene-free.

We look forward to speaking with you about this opportunity.

Sincerely,

Richard Wiles
Senior Vice President

###