Dive Brief:
- Pepsi will reduce the use of 4-MEI, a chemical in the caramel color used in the company’s soft drinks. New products start shipping Nov. 1. The reduction is part of an agreement to settle a California Proposition 65 lawsuit filed by the Center for Environmental Health (CEH).
- Proposition 65 requires businesses in California to notify consumers when a product contains chemicals that the state has identified as harmful. The chemical 4-MEI was added to the list in January 2012. CEH notified Pepsi at the time that the company needed to reduce 4-MEI in its products or display the required warning. Unsatisfied with Pepsi’s progress, CEH filed a lawsuit in January 2014.
- Pepsi will also pay $385,000 as part of the settlement. Of that amount, $160,000 goes to CEH and will mostly be used for public education programs about toxic chemicals. The remaining money includes $165,000 for legal fees and $60,000 that will go to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. Pepsi doesn’t admit to violating product safety laws.
Dive Insight:
Although Proposition 65 gives companies the option of displaying a warning label rather than reformulating a product, most companies realize these labels can scare off customers.
The settlement applies only to California, but the new products will be available across the country because Pepsi uniformly manufactures its soft drinks. Also, reports in June 2015 indicated Pepsi may revive Crystal Pepsi, a soft drink popular in the 1990s that tastes like Pepsi but contains no caramel color.