According to an investigation conducted by journalists from Le Monde and Radio France, the French government allowed food and beverage giant Nestlé to continue selling mineral water that did not comply with health regulations. President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday denied the accusations of a wide-reaching cover-up.
"I am not aware of these things. There is no understanding with anyone, there is no collusion with anyone," President Emmanuel Macron told journalists on the sidelines of a trip to the Gustave Roussy cancer institute near Paris on Tuesday.
Macron was addressing the controversy surrounding new revelations in the Nestlé Waters purification scandal.
The subsidiary of the Swiss agri-food giant has been accused of using illegal processing methods on its bottled water brands to bypass stringent health regulations.
The group is the owner in France of brands like Perrier, Vittel, Hépar and Contrex mineral waters.
On Tuesday, investigative journalists from Le Monde and Radio France revealed that the services of former prime minister, Elisabeth Borne, and the French presidency allowed Nestlé to market these waters, despite the health authorities' recommendations for a ban from 2023.
No improvement
Citing "exchanges of emails and ministerial notes", the journalists accuse the French government of having "privileged the interests of Nestlé to the detriment of consumers" by granting exemptions for the company's practices.
At the beginning of 2024, Nestlé Waters, admitted to having used prohibited techniques such as ultraviolet light and active carbon filters "to guarantee food safety" of its mineral waters.
Nestlé admits to treating bottled mineral water in breach of French regulations
The company said it "lost track of the importance of conforming to regulations" but stressed that all the brands concerned now fulfil French requirements.
The group also reported it alerted the French authorities of the issue in 2021.
At the time, the government asked the national regional health agency (ARS) to organise some 32 inspections and found that a third of bottled water brands did not comply with regulations.
But the investigation by Le Monde and Radio France found evidence that the water quality of the products did not improve.
Journalists said they found a note dated 20 January, 2023 from the Director General of Health (DGS), Jérôme Salomon, who recommended "immediately suspending the authorisation" for Nestlé products from the Vosges area as well as the Perrier bottling site in Vergèze, in the Gard.
Salomon cited a report from the National Health Safety Agency (Anses) on the use of microfilters smaller than 0.8 micrometers, which concluded that the water leaving wells was "not microbiologically healthy".
When asked for details by the French news agency AFP, the president's office at the Élysée indicated that "the matter had been brought their attention" and that it had "referred those interested to the competent state services."
The DGS and Nestlé did not immediately respond to the request for information.
Nestlé and Alma face renewed legal action in France over water fraud
Consumers left in the dark
French consumer rights group Foodwatch filed a complaint in February 2024, alleging unlawful practices in the purification of Nestlé's bottled water.
Nestlé in September, reached a settlement known as a judicial public interest agreement (CJIP) which saw them pay a fine of €2 million to avoid a trial.
But Foodwatch said the multinational needed to be "held accountable" for "decades of fraudulent" actions and launched two more legal complaints, on 25 September.
One of the complaints targeted the company Sources Alma (St-Yorre, Vichy Célestins, Chateldon et Cristaline), accused of using the same illegal purification practices as Nestlé.
For Ingrid Kragl, director of information at Foodwatch France the "lack of transparency" between the companies and the French authorities surrounding the case "raises serious questions".
"For a year and probably years, products which do not comply with water regulations have continued to be marketed in France and around the world without companies being worried. And we, consumers, are left in the dark," she was quoted as saying on the Foodwatch website last Tuesday.
"Foodwatch demands that a trial establish responsibilities and that exemplary sanctions be imposed," the NGO said.
The NGO was due to be heard by a Senate commission inquiry on 29 January.
(with newswires)
