Nestlé admits to having used prohibited treatments on mineral water

The world's number one mineral water company, Nestlé Waters, informed French authorities in 2021 that it had used banned ultraviolet treatments and activated carbon filters on some of its mineral waters to maintain "their food safety". » confirming information from Les Echos. Even if these treatments “have always aimed to guarantee food safety”, they “led the company to lose sight of the issue of regulatory compliance”, explained Nestlé Waters.

The brands concerned, Perrier, Vittel, Hépar and Contrex, all owned by Nestlé, are now “fully compliant with the regulatory framework applicable in France”, promises the company.

Also read: Volvic, Vittel, Perrier… faced with drought, “mineral workers” are trying to preserve their blue gold

Regulations prohibit any disinfection of mineral waters which must naturally be of high microbiological quality, unlike tap water which is disinfected before becoming drinkable. A regulation whose interpretation excludes the ultraviolet treatments and activated carbon filters used by Nestlé Waters at least until 2021, without knowing the exact stop date.

But the company justifies the use of these techniques by “changes in the environment around its sources, which can sometimes make it difficult to maintain the stability of the essential characteristics” of its waters, in other words their food safety (no pollution ) and their mineral composition. The cessation of the use of these treatment and filtration devices forced Nestlé Waters to suspend the activity of some of its wells in the Vosges, due to “their sensitivity to climatic hazards”, leading to a reduction in production volumes. of Hépar and Contrex.