A non-governmental organisation in Hyderabad on Tuesday gave a clean chit to Coke and Pepsi samples tested by them stating the products of the two soft drink majors "had no detectable levels of pesticides."

"The test of samples picked up from the market and given to Vimta Labs here showed that unlike in Delhi and elsewhere, pesticides were below the detectable limits," P M Bhargava, chairman of MARCH (Medically Aware and Responsible Citizens of

Hyderabad) -- an NGO comprising doctors, researchers and scientists -- said.

Announcing the results at a press conference Bhargava, also a former director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, said however, "This does not absolve the soft drink multinationals overall."

"There are variations from place to place and results put out by Centre for Science and Environment, Central Food Lab at Kolkata and Central Food Technological Research Institute at Mysore had indicated presence of pesticides at levels above those permitted by the European Union," he said.

"Variations from batch to batch depended on the source of water used for the manufacture of the soft drinks," he said, adding, "The groundwater tapped in Hyderabad was devoid of pesticides. But that was not the case in Delhi and elsewhere."