New Delhi: Under attack over the alleged "excessive" presence of pesticides in their soft drinks, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola on August 5 dismissed the charge as "baseless" and threatened to take legal action against a non-governmental organisation (NGO).

The multinational companies (MNCs) said the pesticide residues in their products were well within the limits set by the European Union for water used in products within public domain.

"The report (of the Centre for Science and Environment) is baseless and should be disregarded forthwith. We conform to all norms and are open to all testing by an internationally accredited independent laboratory and by experienced people," chairman of PepsiCo holdings Rajiv Bakshi and Coca-Cola India president and CEO Sanjiv Gupta told a joint news conference.

The conference was hurriedly convened in the wake of a report released earlier in the day by Centre for Science and Environment, which alleged the presence of pesticides in soft drinks manufactured by the two multinationals.

Suspecting "motives" behind such report, they said, "There may be a desire to create panic and deliberate scare behind the report.

"Our products are world-class and the same as we sell in Europe and US. These are tested by top- grade labs like Vimta in Hyderabad and TNO in Netherlands," they said.

PTI