Food safety authorities in South Korea called on beverage makers to withdraw vitamin- c enriched drinks that were found to contain the carcinogen benzene. The Korea Food and Drug Administration (fda) said that they had detected benzene in 27 out of 30 vitamin c-enriched drinks that were on sale in the country. The suspected source of benzene in the drinks was sodium benzoate and ascorbic acid (vitamin c).

This step comes after a recent statement by the usfda that powdered fruit drinks and non-diet cola drinks contain benzene at levels that were almost 10 and 14 times above who's recommended limit for benzene in tap water in the us. usfda, however, added that there was no safety concern over benzene in soft drinks or sodas. The original alert over benzene had come from Cadbury Schweppes and Koala Springs.