The health ministry sent samples of soft drinks made by the two under-fire companies to the Central Food Technological Research Institute in southern Mysore and the Central Food Laboratory in Calcutta.

"Our tests will be done in independent labs and we will take action only after examining the results," Health Minister Sushma Swaraj said, as various state administrations said they too will conduct their independent probes.

"The results are expected next week," she said.

A private environment watchdog, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), stirred up a storm by saying a study it conducted indicated a "deadly cocktail of pesticide residues" in 12 top brands marketed in India by Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

The CSE accused both companies of using polluted water.

The CSE report unveiled Tuesday said tests showed drinks sold by the Indian units of Coca-Cola and Pepsi contained dangerously high levels of the toxic chemicals lindane, DDT, malathion and chlorpyrifos.

The CSE said repeated exposure to these pesticides could cause severe harm, ranging from cancer, liver and kidney damage, to birth defects.

Coca-Cola and Pepsi vehemently denied the allegations and took out advertisements Friday in the Indian press to try to allay customers' fears.

Pepsi, meanwhile, appealed to the Delhi High Court Friday asking it to restrain CSE from publishing its report and urged the judiciary to order independent evaluation of its pesticide-in-fizz report.

"The appeal requested the court to direct the government not to act on the basis of the CSE report," a court official said after Pepsi filed its petition.

"Pepsi also requested the court to restrain CSE from publishing any unsubstantiated statements or materials against the firm and to withdraw all such material from circulation and from its website," he said.

Pepsi and Coke have threatened to sue the scientific watchdog.

In Bombay, the Hindu rightwing Shiv Sena party, meanwhile, took its "break bottle" drive Friday to the doorsteps of colleges in a bid to wean away students from their staple fizzy diet.

Sena activists defaced posters at colleges that featured Bollywood heartthrobs who endorse Coca-Cola and Pepsi products and said it will take the drive to advanced education centres.

Activists from other parties including Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's BJP also smashed bottles of Coke and Pepsi outside Bombay's busy Churchgate rail station.

"We have to dig deeper for the truth than their denials in advertisements. All this talk of legal action is hot air. If they are so confident about their product why haven't they filed a case yet? What are they waiting for?" said BJP member H.N. Dixit.

"I am sure lots more bottles will break over this important health issue."

The warning was echoed by by fellow demonstrator Aslam Sheikh, Bombay youth wing president of India's Samajwadi (Equality) Party of former defence minister Mulayam Singh Yadav.

"If the reports are positive for pesticides we will break every bottle the companies make. We will burn down their vehicles carrying these drinks on the roads," Sheikh said.

The state governments of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala have said they will conduct their own spot checks on Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

The US-based behemoths are almost neck-and-neck competitors in India and between them dominate the growing 270-million case per-year carbonated soft drinks market.

TERRA.WIRE