A welcome fallout of the Cola controversy is that the Govt. has issued draft norms, for beverages, in the form of a draft notification to amend the Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules, 1955.

Under the proposed amendments, the ministry of health and family welfare has suggested more stringent limits for the presence of pesticides, insecticides and heavy metals in all kinds of beverages.

While this tightening of limits is a welcome step, it still is hardly enough to check the presence of impurities in these beverages. One reason for that is the fact that it's just a set of rules that the Govt. is proposing to amend. These are merely suggestions for the industry to adhere to. They are not enforced in any way by the authorities. It is upto the beverage manufacturers to implement these rules of their own accord. The Govt. has merely raised the bar. It has not made it mandatory for the industry to clear the bar... leaving space for anybody to sneak beneath the bar.