About it reports French publication Mediapart, citing the results of an investigation, estimates that the damage caused by Nestle’s actions over the past 15 years amounts to €3 billion.
The reporters concluded that the water sources used by the Swiss manufacturer were contaminated with faecal bacteria, E. coli and pesticides, among other things. Nestle filtered this water and sold it as mineral water.
“We categorically reject the figures and calculation method of Mediapart,” a Nestlé spokesman told Bild, adding that Nestlé Water Germany does not sell mineral water from France and that the company’s products “can be consumed without any concerns.”
In addition, according to the German publication, Nestle Water France acknowledged that its filtration methods did not comply with French laws. In 2021, the company actively interacted with the country’s authorities, after which the use of illegal purification methods was stopped, and all brands began to comply with state standards.
This is not the first scandal surrounding Nestle Water France this year – in January, the newspaper Les Echos wrote about the company’s use of ultraviolet light and carbon filters to purify water. These methods are permitted in the EU for filtering tap water, but are prohibited for the production of bottled mineral water.
A month later, representatives of the consumer protection association Foodwatch France contacted to court with a demand to hold Nestle and the mineral water manufacturer Sources Alma accountable for violating production rules and concealing information about this.
“Nestle has apparently 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,” Mediapart quotes Foodwatch France spokesperson Ingrid Kragl as saying.
The association also wants to ensure that the French authorities are punished for concealing the fact of the violation of the law from the public. The European Commission’s report on the investigation into this case is due on July 24.
Photo: Unsplash
Source: rb.ru
