Nestlé investigated after admitting its mineral water underwent ‘purification’
French prosecutors are investigating Nestlé after the Swiss food giant admitted to treating water for its top brands, including Perrier and Vittel, that supposedly comes straight from springs.
Mineral water is 100 times more expensive than tap water but is supposed to be “purer”, “healthier” and “better for you”.
But the investigation came after a government probe, reported on by Le Monde and Radio France, found that almost one in three mineral water brands in France undergo purification treatment supposed to be used only on tap water.
For years, bottlers have used illegal purification techniques for water labelled as “spring” and “natural mineral”, according to the joint investigation.
The French government has been aware of this since 2021 and in response, quietly eased regulations, it alleged.
The probe came after a complaint made by France’s regional health agencies, said Frédéric Nahon, a prosecutor.
Investigations “are still in progress, in particular to establish whether the label ‘natural’ mineral water is misleading or not,” he told AFP. Regional newspaper Vosges Matin said the investigation had been opened in January 2023.
Nestlé Waters said this week that it had passed some waters, such as Perrier and Vittel, through ultraviolet light and active carbon filters “to guarantee food safety”.
Nestlé said it “lost track of the importance of conforming to regulations” but that all the brands concerned now fulfilled French requirements.
French law – based on a European Union directive – prohibits the disinfection of mineral water, which is supposed to be of naturally high quality before bottling. Tap water, by contrast, is disinfected before being classed as drinkable.
Nestlé said there had been “changes in the environment around its sources, which can sometimes make it difficult to maintain stability of vital characteristics” in the water – namely the absence of pollution and mineral composition.
Since stopping the treatments, Nestlé has paused production at some wells in the Vosges department of eastern France because of their “sensitivity to climate hazards”, forcing it to slash production of Hepar and Contrex mineral waters.
In the report submitted to the government in July 2022, the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs (IGAS) estimated that 30 per cent of French brands resort to non-compliant treatments. However, it added there was “no doubt” that figure “underestimates the phenomenon and that all mineral bottlers are concerned”.
‘Microbiological risks’
A government source told AFP: “No health risk linked to the quality of bottled water has so far been identified.”
But “it would not be prudent to conclude that health risks are completely under control, especially microbiological risks”, according to a passage from the IGAS report cited by Radio France.
Nestlé did not immediately make clear when it stopped treating water sold under the Perrier, Vittel, Hepar and Contrex brands.
Ingrid Kragl, information director of Food Watch, an NGO, told France Inter it would file a legal complaint for fraud.
“How is it that the French government, according to the investigation, was aware of this and that these products were marketed even though they were in breach of the regulations?,” she asked.
