Pune: Government may consider revoking the licences of the companies manufacturing soft drinks in India if the report indicates presence of pesticides beyond the permissible level, Union Minister of state for Food Processing Industries N T Shanmugam said on August 9.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a seminar on 'Food Processing Industries – Present and Future' organised by Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he said samples of 15 brand of soft drinks and allied products have been sent for testing to Centre for Food Technology Institute (CFTI) at Mysore and reports is awaited.

"If the report indicates presence of pesticides beyond the permissible limits, then we would take stern action against them and may also consider to revoke their manufacturing licences," Shanmugam said.

To a question on the credibility of the laboratory, he said the CFTI was an accredited laboratory therefore there was no need to question its methods and process adopted in preparing the reports.

Admitting that there were no governments regulatory norms to define what constitutes a good water, the Minister said he has also written a letter to the Health Ministry to make "our own norms because as of now we go by the European norms".

The norms will have to be made jointly by the Health, Law Ministry and Food Ministries, Shanmugam added.

PTI