In France, revelations continue to follow concerning mineral waters marketed by Nestlé. A new document from the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES) confirms the contamination of the Swiss group’s natural mineral water sources. Last January, our colleagues from World and of France Inforevealed that Nestlé had indeed used prohibited purification treatments
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The ANSES observation is very clear: “ A level of confidence is insufficient to guarantee the health quality of Nestlé’s finished products “. Submitted to the government last October, the report points to the presence of chemical contaminants in the water assessed.
The famous PFAS, these so-called “eternal” pollutants, are also present and can sometimes exceed the regulatory threshold. Pesticides, bacteria of fecal origin and even micropollutants complete the list.
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The brands concerned? Hépar, Vittel, Contrex, but also Perrier. For experts, all these non-compliances should not lead to the production of bottled water.
This is an investigation by our colleagues from Radio France and the newspaper Le Monde, made public at the end of January which revealed the affair to consumers. The journalists then revealed that the Swiss multinational was using treatments that did not comply with regulations to treat its mineral waters. However, mineral water is supposed to be naturally “pure” water, which does not need treatment. The regulations, resulting from a European directive, prohibit any disinfection of mineral waters, because they must naturally be of high microbiological quality, unlike tap water which is disinfected before becoming drinkable.
Following the publication of the report, the Nestlé CGT requested an extraordinary meeting of the social and economic council of the Swiss group, in order to obtain explanations from management as quickly as possible.