Cancer Risk from 1,000 Cans of Cola a Day (KO, PEP)

A consumer group called Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) claims that the food coloring that gives colas their distinctive coloring has been found to be carcinogenic in animals. The substance is 4-methylimidazole (4-MI), and has been found in “high levels” in products from both Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) and Pepsico Inc. (NYSE: PEP).

The group petitioned the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban the substance in February 2011, but the agency has not yet done so. Bloomberg News cites an FDA email saying:

A consumer would have to drink more than a thousand cans of soda in a day to match the doses administered in studies that showed links to cancer in rodents.

Pepsico is switching to a caramel-coloring additive in California that the company claims contains far less of the potentially harmful substance.

The CSPI press release is available here.