Pepsi cola totally safe: Indra Nooyi

PespsiCo president Indira K Nooyi on Monday said the company's products in India were absolutely safe and asserted that it was ready to abide by any government standards.

"I personally stand behind each product we sell. They are the best in the world," Nooyi said here addressing captains of industry at a conference.

Nooyi said safety and quality of products were 'single highest priority for PepsiCo.'

"We have very rigorous standards of quality and safety and the standards followed in India are the same as followed in other global markets like New York, London or Beijing," Nooyi said.

Referring to the pesticide-in-cola controversy that rocked the Indian cola industry this summer and three years back, she maintained the company's products were safe 'as validated by tests in government labs.'

She asserted that there were no validated methods to test the pesticide levels in finished products and added that the company was working together with rival Coca-Cola 'on a breakthrough science-based method to reliably and consistently measure the levels in finished products.'

On the charges of cola companies depleting ground water levels, Nooyi said industry accounted for about 6 per cent of the total water usages in India, of which the bottled or soft drink manufacturers accounted only 400th of one per cent.

However, she added that water was a precious resource and the company was making efforts to support water conservation initiatives.

On health issues due to cola consumption, mainly obesity in children Nooyi said, it required multi-dimensional approach and "we need to do more on this front like exercise in school to prevent sedentary lifestyle and educate kids on proper nutrition and exercise."

She said, Pepsi was making efforts to reduce fats and sugars in products portfolio and the company would introduce 'exciting innovation' in its product line in the coming time.