FDA Finds Bunk in Bottled-Water Claims

 FDA Finds Bunk in Bottled-Water Claims
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An FDA investigation into the bottled-water industry suggests that the water of a number of domestic companies may not be as pure and natural as consumers have been led to believe. Among those companies with questionably pure waters are Lithia Springs Water Co and Artesia Waters Inc.

Lithia Springs Water Co. of Georgia touts its "world's finest" bottled mineral water as "naturally pure" and recommends downing a glass of its special Love Water as an "invigorator" before bed time. Artesia Waters Inc. promotes its water as "100% pure sparkling Texas Natural Water."

But a new Food and Drug Administration survey of the U.S. bottled-water industry suggests that the water of a number of domestic companies may not be as pure and natural as consumers have been led to believe. Artesia Waters, for example, doesn't mention that its water, a favorite at the Bush White House, is heavily processed and comes from the same underground source that San Antonio taps for its municipal water supply. And 31% of the brands surveyed, including Lithia Springs water, were found to be tainted with bacteria.

The FDA findings will be made public today at a House hearing that could be the biggest threat to the $2 billion industry's image since the global Perrier recall in February 1990. At the same time, the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee will issue a report charging that the marketing hype of some bottlers misleads consumers into thinking their products are superior to tap water. "This is an industry that often relies on obfuscation and sleight of hand to market and sell a fundamental commodity to an unwitting public," asserts Democratic Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, the subcommittee's chairman.

The industry has been bracing for the political assault as if its Waterloo were at hand. "Our water is well regulated and safe for consumption," says Tyrone Wilson, spokesman for the International Bottled Water Association. "There have been no reported cases of people getting sick from drinking bottled water in the U.S." He says the trade group, based in Alexandria, Va., discourages any misleading or false claims by its members.

The international industry was jolted early last year when Source Perrier S.A., Paris, was forced to recall its trademark mineral water after U.S. health authorities found it contained traces of benzene, a suspected carcinogen. After resuming production, Perrier subsequently agreed under pressure from the FDA and the European Community to stop labeling its water "naturally carbonated" because the company adds gas to the water from its spring in southern France.

Subcommittee staff members, who have been studying the U.S. industry for more than a year, found a confusing array of bottled water labels claiming unique sources and properties. Bottled water can be "artesian," "glacial," "purified," "naturally carbonated," and "accompanied with a twist" of some fruit. The terms, while promoting the notion of bottled water's superiority, are usually unsubstantiated, according to the staff's report.

One critic, Irina Cech, a professor of environmental health and hydrology at University of Texas, Houston, complains that the artwork on the many labels can be particularly misleading. She cites three Texas brands bearing pictures of a mountain stream or a waterfall or a moon-lit lake that suggest the water comes from far-off natural sources. Only by reading the small print would consumers know that all three relied on Houston's municipal system for their water.

"The artwork is pretty; it's attractive, but it doesn't tell me anything," says Ms. Cech. "They should cut out the catchy phrases and tell us the facts. We don't know what the chemical composition is, when it was bottled, who inspected it or how it was treated."

Sodium labeling is another problem identified by the staff. Consumers on severely restricted sodium diets could easily exceed their maximum daily allowance by drinking bottled water labeled "low sodium."

One company likely to be singled out at today's hearing is Artesia Waters, a major bottler based in San Antonio, Texas. The company promotes its "naturally healthy" water as a "perfect replacement" for spring or municipal water. But the staff investigators found that Artesia and the city of San Antonio draw their water from the Edwards Aquifer, and that the main difference between them is the type and extent of processing. "We do as little processing as we can -- only what's required by our state health department," says Richard Scoville, Artesia's founder and president.

Lithia Springs Water Co. "exemplifies everything that is wrong in the industry," contends Rep. Dingell. "Not only does the producer make unsubstantiated health claims, but also markets the same water with different names at substantially different prices."

What's more, he says, its water was found last fall to be highly contaminated with bacteria. One sample contained 3.3 million organisms per milliliter of water, including 13,000 Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria, which some experts regard as a threat to infants and chronically ill patients. "That's incredible," says Fred Rosenberg, a microbiologist at Northeastern University, Boston. "The worst we ever saw in our lab was up around 250,000 {organisms} per milliliter in a sample of European water."

Gleda James, Lithia Springs owner, says the tainted water has been recalled and the contamination problem corrected. As for health claims, she denies making any for her company's water, which was used by a 19th-century health spa in Lithia Springs.

The FDA's survey is likely to rock the industry. Among other things, the agency found 31% of 52 U.S. brands to be tainted with bacteria. In addition, the agency uncovered poor manufacturing practices at 29% of the domestic companies surveyed and found water testing "deviations" at 31%.

FDA officials contend that bottled water is generally safe, despite the bacteria findings. None of the samples showed any signs of fecal contamination, according to Joseph Madden, an agency microbiologist. But the Pseudomonas aeruginosa findings are particularly troubling to some experts because some water bottlers target their advertising and marketing at parents who are worried about using tap water in infant formula.

At today's hearing, the industry's image will be further stained by the release of a list of 22 bottled water recalls, because of contaminants such as kerosene and mold. Most of them, overshadowed by the Perrier recall, went unnoticed by consumers. The number represents a significant jump from the handful of recalls during the preceding two years.

At the same time, lawmakers are likely to assail the FDA for what Mr. Dingell calls regulatory "lassitude." A new audit by the General Accounting Office shows that the agency has been slow to adopt standards for several harmful contaminants, lacks a complete inventory of the nation's 500 bottlers and inspects them only once every five or six years.

In addition, the agency exempted mineral water from bottled water standards in 1973 without ever developing alternative standards, according to the audit. FDA officials say tight budgets have forced them to focus on more-pressing health concerns.

The hearing will thrust the International Bottled Water Association into a particularly difficult dilemma. On one hand, the group claims self-regulation has been working; on the other, it has been calling for more comprehensive federal regulation to keep up with the industry's fivefold jump in sales over the last decade.

Thomas Pirko, a beverage industry consultant in Los Angeles, believes fallout from hearing testimony could damp the industry's growth rate: "The public could get wind of the fact that this industry is a lot of hype and fluff."

Credit: Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal