French water controls criticized in EU audit; consumers worldwide have been deceived

The European Commission has found major problems with French controls in the water sector with the system not ensuring compliance with the rules.

A DG Sante audit was carried out in March following alleged fraud in natural mineral waters in France that were reported by media in January involving Nestlé Waters and Sources Alma.

Auditors found there is a system in place for the official control of natural mineral waters and spring waters, supported by a monitoring plan and adequate laboratory capabilities.

However, serious shortcomings were identified, such as the absence of regular risk-based official inspections and inadequate collaboration between and within authorities at central and local levels. Ten recommendations were made.

DG Sante found inspectors had insufficient experience in some aspects of official controls, particularly processes and verification of hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) as well as personnel and resource issues.

There was also a lack of immediate follow up measures to ensure that operators remedy issues such as the use of prohibited treatments, to recall non-compliant products, and to impose penalties on firms for placing non-compliant products on the market.

Auditors said the system is not designed to detect or mitigate fraud in the natural mineral and spring waters sector. It is also not correctly enforced, making the sale of non-conforming and potentially fraudulent products possible.

“Overall, the official control system does not verify effectively that natural mineral waters placed on the market fullfil the relevant legal requirements,” according to the audit report.

Incident timeline
“It’s even worse than we suspected. The report sheds light on dangerous weaknesses in our food control system,” said Ingrid Kragl, from foodwatch France.

“Nestlé has been able to deceive consumers for decades without the authorities putting a halt to it. The system is failing: companies can sell their fraudulent products around the world without fear of consequences and consumers are left in the dark. We want the competent authorities to do their job, to carry out more reliable checks and, above all, to comply with the regulations.”

For natural mineral waters, disinfection treatments and any other methods likely to change the viable colony count of water are prohibited under EU law. Where a member state considers that a natural mineral water does not comply with EU rules it may temporarily restrict its trade and should inform the EU Commission and other member states.

Investigations into suspected fraudulent activities by French authorities began in 2020. This found two operators had used prohibited treatments including UV and active carbon. 30 percent of the natural mineral water packaged in France were subject to such treatments. There was also deliberate concealment of treatments during controls.

The audit team were told that, as investigations were still ongoing at implicated sites, how long prohibited treatments had been used was not known. One operator said the purpose of UV treatment was to ensure safety against possible microbiological deviations. Documents show such methods were in place for several decades.

Reaction to audit report and by Nestlé
Auditors found that French authorities were aware treated water was marketed and labeled as natural mineral water, although it did not meet EU requirements. Legal proceedings at some operators were started but no withdrawal of incorrectly labeled products was ordered.

In one case, prohibited treatment processing machinery was in an easily accessible and inspectable area of the factory. Authorities agreed that fraudulent practices could have been detected using a targeted onsite inspection instead of basing official controls only on analytical supervision.

Responding to the report and recommendations, French officials said given the recent findings, checks on implicated operators have been stepped up to ensure compliance with EU rules, with suspension of operating permits not ruled out. They added that the fraud was not widespread and operators also have sites in other EU countries.

France presented on the topic to member states during a section of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed meeting in April. They said consumers were not exposed to any food safety risk and judicial proceedings were ongoing. Some member states reported similar concerns in the past and possible ongoing domestic issues for natural mineral water production. The EU Commission asked countries to take findings of the incident into consideration in their controls.

Nestlé Waters France said all the waters it bottles, including Perrier, Vittel, Hépar, and Contrex, now comply with French regulations.

“With food safety as a primary goal, practices at some of our waters production sites may not be in line with the applicable regulatory framework. We regret this situation and, as part of our review, we are committed to taking action under the supervision of the relevant authorities to ensure that our waters operations comply with the regulatory framework. We have reason to believe that these practices were in place for a long time. We are looking into an internal review to understand how something like this could have happened, and to ensure it does not repeat in future.” 

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