New Delhi, Aug. 6. (PTI): The demand to ban Coca Cola and Pepsi gathered momentum around the nation today, from Parliament to various states.

Reports of high pesticides content in these beverages have alarmed a wide section of lawmakers and special interest groups.

Cutting across party lines MPs voiced serious concern over the reported presence of high levels of pesticides and insecticides in Coca Cola, Pepsi Cola and 10 other branded drinks and demanded an immediate ban on these drinks.

Responding to members' concern, Health Minister Sushma Swaraj said the Government had sought a comprehensive report in this regard. "Government will take steps keeping in mind the collective wisdom of the members here," she said.

Describing the issue as "serious and startling", Swaraj said her reaction was the same what members had stated after going through media reports.

SUCI joins ban call

The Left party Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI) today staged a demonstration demanding a ban on the sale of Coca Cola and Pepsi.

Activists took out a procession and burnt cutouts of soft drink bottles even as the Kolkata Municipal Corporation said that it would test Coke and Pepsi in its laboratories.

In Bangalore meanwhile, Opposition parties demanded the state government ban the sale of Coca Cola and Pepsi soft drinks.

Legislative Council Members claimed that while these soft drinks manufactured in the US did not contain any pesticide, those produced here revealed "more than 30 per cent pesticide content".

Since pesticides are carcinogenic and can lead to cancer, their sale should be "immediately banned on health grounds", the members stressed.

Maharashtra to test

A report from Mumbai said that the Maharashtra government today said samples of cold drinks in the state would be sent to laboratories for examination.

"As a precautionary measure, the state government will sent for tests samples of cold drinks from the bottling plants across the state to laboratories", Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) commissioner Uttam Khobragade said in a statement here.

Khobragade warned that if tests prove presence of insecticides in the soft drinks then the administration will cancel licenses given to the plants.