It is the “French Watergate”. Can the waters continue to identify themselves as “natural mineral water”?
French multimilior companies in the mineral water sector have become the target of attention due to climate change and growing concerns about the environmental impacts of this industry.
The question is whether some of the worldwide brands known, especially the iconic Perrierthey may continue to identify themselves as “natural mineral water.”
The decision on the case of Perrier should be known in the coming months, after revelations of the French press on illicit filtering systems Widely used in the sector – allegedly due to worries about water contamination, after years of drought associated with climate change.
“This is, in fact, Our ‘Water-Gate’”Says Stéphane Manded, referring to the corruption scandal that shook the United States in the 1970s and the term Water. It was she who conducted investigations to the French newspaper Le Monde.
“It’s a combination of industrial fraud and collusion with the state. And now there is a true Damocles sword over Perrier’s head.”
According to the hydrologist Emma Haziza, “the commercial model of the major producers worked very well, but is totally unsustainable in a time of global climate change.” For the expert, “when we have major brands that feel that they have no choice but to treat their water, it means that know that there is a quality problem”.
The case reached headlines in France a year ago. An investigation by Le Monde and Radio France revealed that at least one third of mineral water sold in the country was illegally treated – Whether with ultraviolet light, charcoal filters or ultra -thin microfilters – techniques usually used to eliminate bacteria.
This is not a public health problem, since treated water is, by definition, safe. The problem is that, according to European Union legislation, “natural mineral water” (sold at prices far higher than tap water) should remain unchanged between the underground spring and the bottle.
Marks like Evian, Vichy e Perrier They have achieved huge success in France and abroad thanks to their image of mountainous slopes, clear streams, purity and beneficial minerals for health. By admitting the use of filtering, the sector risks breaking the charm of the market. And consumers can start demanding what they have paid to receive.
To further complicate the situation of Perrier and its owner, the Nestléthe accusation arose that executives of the company and members of the government conspired to keep the case secret, Covering Contamination Reports and changing rules so that Perrier could continue to use microfiltration. In their investigations, Le Monde and Radio France say that the French government has considered the mineral water industry so strategic that it has agreed to suppress harmful information.
One Inquiry in the French Senate accused the government of a “deliberate strategy” of “concealment”. In response to the accusations, the French government has asked the European Commission to determine the level of permissible microfilage for “natural mineral water”.
The then chief of staff of former First Minister Élisabeth Borne, Aurelien Rousseau, admitted that there was a “error of appreciation,” but argues that there was never any risk to public health.
In the first half of this year, during an audition in the French Senate on the sector, the Nestlé Executive Director, Laurent Freixe, admitted that Perrier actually resorted to illicit water treatment methods.
But it also made another revelation: an official report of hydrologists about the company’s historic factory in the Gard Department in southern France, recommended that the status of “natural mineral water” for the company’s production was not renewed.
This information raises the possibility that, for the first time in its 160 years of history, water Perrier can no longer be labeled as what consumers believe it is.
According to Emma Haziza, “the relationship with climate change and global warming is fully proven.” And if Perrier makes sense of impacts before the other companies, it is probably because its geographical location makes it different.
Far from the mountainous scenario that many imagine, the perrier water is extracted from deep aquifers situated on the coastal plain between Nîmes and Montpellier, next to the French Mediterranean coast. It is a populous region, very hot and with intense agricultural activity.
“There has been a big climate change since 2017,” explains Haziza. “In the last five years, there has been a succession of particularly intense droughts in the south [de França].”
“All aquifers have been affected,” says the hydrologist. “This means not only the superficial water table, from where the water from the everyday tap comes. Today we can see that even the deeper aquifers, which companies thought safe, were hit.”
“The unforeseen event is happening. We passed from a time when companies were able to extract water from deep aquifers with the certainty that they would be replenished for a time when clearly, clearly, The system as a whole cannot continue. ”
The analysis of Haziza and other experts indicates that now there is a direct relationship between the deepest and superficial aquifers. Contaminants (chemicals used in agriculture or human waste) that infiltrate the soil during sudden, increasingly frequent floods can now also reach deep aquifers.
At the same time, the effects of prolonged drought and excessive extraction make them contain less water, and therefore any contamination are more concentrated.
“We can predict that what happened first with the Perrier factory will happen to other producers in the coming years,” says Haziza. “We have to abandon our current consumption model.”
Last year, three million bottles were destroyed at Perrier’s factory because they were contaminated.
But the company claims that any problems are quickly detected and disputes the idea that contaminants are reaching deep aquifers.
“We are extracting water of 130 meters deep, below the limestone layers,” explains Perrier Hydrologist Jérémie Palong. “We are 100% sure about water purity and its mineral composition is constant.”
Perrier claims that the European Union regulation does not expressly prohibit microfillation. The corresponding text only states that nothing should be done to disinfect or change the mineral composition of water. The discussion focuses on determining to what extent the microfilage changes this composition or not.
Perrier’s original source was channeled for the first time by a local doctor in the 1860. The brand grew 50 years later, under British management. St. John Harmsworth (1876-1933)-Brother of the Press Mogates, the Viscounts of NorthCliffe (1865-1922) and Rothermere (1868-1940)-made Perrier synonym for mineral water throughout the British Empire. According to the company’s tradition, Harmsworth was inspired by the Indian sticks he used to exercise after a serious road accident to create the rounded shape of the Perrier bottles.
Currently, the traffic jam in Vergèze, in southern France, is next to the former residence of Harmsworth and the original source. The factory is highly automated. A rail connection connects it to the French network SNCF, transporting hundreds of millions of cans and bottles every year to the Port of Marseille, for export.
The company’s focus in the last year was a new brand, called Perrier house – Energy and flavored drinks that have been successful in France and abroad.
The advantage for Perrier is that these new drinks do not present themselves as “natural mineral water” and can be treated and filtered without restrictions.
Perrier said the new brand is part of its product range and has no intention of abandoning original Perrier natural mineral water.
The company requested the status of “natural mineral water” for only two of the five wells used for Perrier’s production. The decision should be published later this year.
