Nestle Accused of Selling Water Containing Fecal Bacteria

Consumer rights association Foodwatch has claimed that Swiss company Nestle uses prohibited methods of purifying drinking water, which could have left faecal bacteria in bottles. The association has already filed a lawsuit against the multinational corporation, German tabloid Bild reported .

The French division of Nestle Waters used ultraviolet and carbon filters for purification, activists of the association learned in the spring. These methods are sufficient for purifying tap water, but are prohibited in the European Union for the production of bottled mineral water. That is, Nestle allegedly bottled ordinary filtered water contaminated with faecal bacteria and pesticides, public activists announced. According to their information, water for about a third of the brands of drinks produced by the French division of Nestle was purified with violations: Perrier, Vittel, Hepar and Contrex.

"It appears that Nestle has been selling billions of bottles of water for decades that have nothing to do with 'natural mineral water' - in France, Europe and even around the world," Foodwatch France spokesperson Ingrid Kragl told Mediapart. The publication estimates the damage caused by the company's actions over the past 15 years at 3 billion euros.

Social activists and French media have learned that Nestle Waters notified the authorities of its cleaning methods back in 2021, but they did not make the information public. Therefore, Foodwatch intends to bring to court not only the company, but also the French authorities.

In June, Le Figaro wrote that Nestle had practically stopped producing bottled water in France. Now Nestle Water Germany is sold in the country, representatives of the corporation told Bild. All Nestle products, representatives assured, "can be consumed without any concerns, since their unique composition corresponds to the description on the label."

In April, the Swiss public organization PublicEye submitted Nestle children's products sold in Africa, Asia and Latin America for chemical analysis. The results showed that Nido powdered milk and Cerelac cereals contain sugar in the form of sucrose or honey. PublicEye announced that the corporation is deliberately trying to cause addiction to sweets in children from poor countries.

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