The Benzene scandal is starting to escalate, as Massachusetts and Florida consumers press class-action lawsuits against soda companies.

Polar Beverages and In Zone Brands have both been named in the lawsuits. The plaintiffs are demanding that the companies start selling products with a “tendency to contain benzene,” as well as pay the plaintiffs’ court costs and relinquish all profits from the sales.

The companies are claiming their products are safe, but the plaintiff’s tests determined that the products had benzene in them. The testing conditions? Twenty four hours exposure under ultraviolet light in 114 degree heat.

Oh, give me a break. The ingredients in soda tend to produce benzene under prolonged exposure to light and heat. That’s why you refrigerate soda. If 114 degree Fahrenheit is the condition required to produce benzene in these drinks, maybe you should have filed the class action lawsuit in Abu Dhabi, guys. Except that even there you don’t get 24 hours of sunlight. There’s the North Pole in summer, but of course, that’s pretty well refrigerated.

In other words, you couldn’t match their testing conditions at any location on the planet Earth. Just more abject hysteria from anti-soda zealots, pushing forward their busybody cause with bad science in the name of the children.

Soft drink makers sued over possible benzene threat [Mercury News]

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