The FDA has been very hush hush about their soda/Benzene testing. First they assured us that there was no problem, and then a little later they said that "Well, there's sort of a problem, but kinda not really. We'll wait until the test results are complete before we make any conclusions."

The report is now out and the FDA concludes...

Because of the limited survey data to date, we cannot yet understand the sources of variation in measured benzene levels, such as variability between different product lots and the effects of storage and handling.

Translated into english, they're saying "We don't know what the heck is going on. There's too much data to look at to give a full conclusion, and don't you worry your pretty little heads that this is an issue you need to worry about, or that there would be major ramifications to the Soda Industry if we actually committed to a conclusion of any sort"

Okay, so I embellished the last bit there.

It appears as if there's still more testing to do, and the FDA has not commited to any future updates on this issue of yet.

Meanwhile, it's probably a good idea to get rid of your stockpiles of Safeway Select Diet Orange, AquaCal Strawberry Flavored Water Beverage, Crystal Light Sunrise Classic Orange or Giant Light Cranberry Juice Cocktail, all of which were shown to have an excess of benzene after the completion of some of the tests, anywhere between 23 to 79 parts per billion (remember, anything over 5 parts per billion should make you sit up and take notice).

Thanks to Parke over at U.S. Food Policy

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