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A new diet version of Coca-Cola on sale in Hong Kong contains a chemical banned in the United States because of fears it might cause cancer, the soft-drink maker confirmed yesterday.

Swire Coca-Cola Hong Kong said it used the artificial sweetener sodium cyclamate in Coke Light, which last month replaced Diet Coke in local shops and vending machines.

But the company - and government food officials - insisted the drink was safe despite cyclamate having been outlawed in the US for more than 30 years after being linked to cancer in animals.

Cyclamate was popular in the 1950s for use in food and drinks for weight-watchers and diabetics.

But in 1969 a study was interpreted as showing it was a cancer-causing agent. The substance was subsequently banned by the US Food and Drug Administration, despite questions being raised about the validity of the original research findings.

Leone Leung Ting-on, for Swire Coca-Cola Hong Kong, refused to say how much cyclamate was in each can of Coke Light because the company's recipes were secret.

'Sodium cyclamate is used in many other countries and the Hong Kong Government has approved its use,' she said. The chemical is approved for use in foods in Canada, Britain, Australia, mainland China, Taiwan, Thailand and the European Community.

She said the drink's predecessor, Diet Coke, did not contain cyclamate. 'Coke Light is designed to suit the local consumer's taste - we have a different formulation from Diet Coke,' Miss Leung said.

Coca-Cola China's external affairs director, Brenda Lee, said from Shanghai that the same recipe was used for the Coke Light sold in Hong Kong and in other parts of the world, such as France and Germany.

'Diet Coke and Coke Light use different sweeteners but they're all approved ingredients for the local markets,' she said. 'Different countries have different food laws but the Coca-Cola company uses very safe ingredients in our products.

'More than 50 countries in the world are using [cyclamate] in many food products, and scientific bodies like the World Health Organisation and the National Cancer Institute in the US have all confirmed there's no adverse effect of this ingredient to the human body.'

Ms Lee said there was 'overwhelming scientific evidence' that cyclamate was safe to humans.

A spokeswoman for the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department said no records were kept of which foods and drinks sold in Hong Kong contained cyclamate because manufacturers were not required to notify the Government when using it.

'World Health Organisation studies show no evidence that sodium cyclamate will pose a risk to public health,' she said.

Multiple studies since 1970 have determined cyclamate to be safe for human consumption, but in a research paper published by the organisation as recently as last Saturday, it is described as being 'suspected of increasing the risk of bladder cancer, but the human evidence is inconsistent'.

The department spokeswoman said: 'There's no evidence showing this kind of chemical will pose a risk to public health or that it will cause cancer. I can't comment on why the US doesn't allow it.'

COKE18GET



Cancer-fear chemical in new soft drink