Benzene in soft drinks been filed by a group of parents in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The two companies, Zone Brands Inc., maker of "BellyWashers" products, and TalkingRain Beverage Co., denied that their products were harmful, but agreed to change the ingredients in their drinks. Coca-Cola announced that it would be phasing out sodium benzoate from many of its drinks, but not Fanta and Sprite. As of August 2012, Coca Cola Zero and Barq's root beer still contains benzoate (added as potassium salt and sodium salt respectively). A Belgian study found that plastic packaging may play an important role in
Benzene in soft drinks initially approached FDA with concerns about benzene formation in soft drinks. Following testing, FDA asked manufacturers to voluntarily reformulate. By 1993, FDA determined that most drinks had little benzene contamination. In 1993, research showed how benzene can form from benzoic acid in the presence of vitamin C. In the summer of 1998, a number of well known soft drinks manufacturers had to withdraw large quantities of their products from sale after benzene contamination in some production plants was discovered. In November 2005, the FDA received test results conducted by private citizens that benzene was forming at low levels in several