Bottled water under scrutiny

July 20, 12:52 PMGreen Living ExaminerRebecca Lacko

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New regulations sought for bottled water

There are a few things we consumers, er, humans need to take seriously: the first is air, the second is water. Let's put aside a debate about the ozone for a moment, as Jennifer Aniston's face passes by on the side of a bus. She is shushing us about Glaceau's smartwater. Is it because consumers are given less information about bottled water than what they can drink from the tap because the two are regulated differently? Companies that produce bottled water--a $11.2 billion industry including PepsiCo Inc.’s Aquafina and Coca-Cola Co.’s Dasani--currently aren’t required to report tests that turned up contamination. 

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn’t require companies that produce bottled water to report positive tests for contaminants. However, municipal water authorities, overseen by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), must report dangerous contaminants within 24 hours. Consumer advocates testified Wednesday, July 8, before the Energy and Commerce Committee’s oversight and investigations panel that bottlers should be required to disclose more information to consumers. As Wall Street Journal's Jane Zhang, succinctly says, "Federal regulation hasn’t caught up with Americans’ taste for bottled water." Ironically, taste does not seem to be a high priority for Glaceau's smartwater; a spokesperson for  the company had this to say: "To us, Jennifer truly embodies what smartwater is all about as she combines substance and style like nobody else."

Stricter labeling urged for bottled water
Both the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, recommend that bottled water be labeled with the same level of information municipal water providers must disclose.

The EWG recommends purifying tap water with a commercial filter; According to Emily Fredrix, "The researchers urged Americans to make bottled water 'a distant second choice' to filtered tap water because there isn't enough information about bottled water."

The GAO said the FDA should start by requiring that bottled water labels tell consumers where to find out more. Community water systems must distribute annual reports about their water's source, contaminants and possible health concerns. Wiles agreed; "If the municipal tap water systems can tell their customers this information, you would think that bottled water companies that charge 1,000 times more for this water could also let consumers know the same thing." 

Bryan Pullen, President of Summit Spring, a bottler of natural spring water, has a different perspective. “Pure spring water needs no label," points out Pullen. He says, however, "consumers expect to see nutrition facts and labels on all their products," and criticizes Aquafina, Dasani and Smart Water for using labels to mislead consumers to believe their products are purified well water.  "Just because there is a mountain on the label," remarks Pullen, "does not mean it comes from a spring." 
 
Does Summit Spring test its water for purity? "Absolutely," says Pullen, "and those test results are always available on our website." In the very least, shouldn't every company be made responsible to report on its company website?

The issue before a subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee was specifically about about the mechanics of regulating bottled water, but there are consequential benefits to seeking new legistation for labeling.

1. Growing awareness about the high quality level of filtered tap water encourages consumers to drink water in reusable containers, rather than purchasing multiple plastic and glass bottles of water which may or may not be recycled. The bottled water industry has been suffering lately as colleges, communities and some governments take measures to limit or ban its consumption, motivated by cost savings and environmental concern because the bottles often are not recycled.

2.  Helps consumers make informed decisions about purchasing bottled water. "Consumers should know where all their water comes from, how it is treated and what is found in it," said Richard Wiles, senior vice president for policy and communications for the Environmental Working Group. According to trade publication Beverage Digest editor John Sicher, "some consumers are turning on the tap during the recession simply because it's cheaper."

3. The GAO noted the FDA has yet to set standards for DEHP (one of several chemicals known as phthalates) that are found in many household products---while the EPA limits the presence of phthalates in tap water.

4. Regulated labeling could increase consumer awareness of the difference between purified water and natural spring water.

For more info: Effective December 1, 2009, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is amending its bottled water regulations to require that bottled water manufacturers test source water for any coliform organisms, and to determine whether any of the coliform organisms are Escherichia coli (E. coli), an indicator of fecal contamination. Bottled water containing E. coli will be considered adulterated, and source water containing E. coli will not be considered to be of a safe, sanitary quality and will be prohibited from use in the production of bottled water.
Further, before water from a source that has tested positive for E. coli can be used, the bottler must take appropriate measures to rectify or eliminate the cause of E. coli contamination of that source, and the bottler must keep records of such actions.
This final rule will ensure that FDA's standards for the minimum quality of bottled water, as affected by fecal contamination, will be no less protective of the public health than those set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for public drinking water.