A Carcinogen Forms during Manufacturing Process of Drinks from Coke and Pepsi

California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment listed 4-methylimidazole (4-MEI) as carcinogenic that is found in Coke and Papsi soft drinks as a byproduct in the manufacturing process.
4-methylimidazole is found to be causing cancer in rats. As the chemical is listed as carcinogenic that requires legal warning on the product label.

So, they changed the manufacturing process to avoid the label, reported in the BBC. The 4-MEI;

4-Methylimidazole

• Formed naturally in the heating and browning process.
• Occurs in caramel colouring as well as some roasted and cooked foods.
• Can be in some cleaning, photographic and agricultural chemicals, dyes and pharmaceuticals.
• Exposure can be through consumption or during manufacturing process.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) claims a person would need to drink more than 1,000 cans of Coke or Pepsi a day to take in the same dose of the chemical that was given to the animals in the lab test.
The new recipe for caramel (A beige to dark-brown confectionery product made by heating any of a variety of sugars) colouring in the drinks has less 4-methylimidazole (4-MEI) - a chemical which California has added to its list of carcinogens.