ABOUT
Smart discussion of the latest science and news on toxins in your food, water, and air, and what government agencies should be doing to protect public health. Written by EWG staff.
DONATE TO EWG!
Help us protect your health and environment! Please donate $5 to EWG today.
GET EWG'S TIPS & ACTION ALERTS
Sign Up here to receive email updates and tips from EWG and stay informed on the issues that matter most to you.
ENVIROBLOG VIA EMAIL
If you ask a caveman a chemistry question...
Fluoride in your water: How much is too much?
Borax: Not the green alternative it's cracked up to be
Bottled Water Industry to EWG: Shut Up!
SEARCH ENVIROBLOG
FEATURED
Support the 2010 Safe Cosmetics Act. It's Urgent.
Why, oh why is there plastic in my aluminum water bottle?
Cell phone radiation series - Part 2: 8 Ways to reduce your exposure
Test Your Knowledge of Cosmetics Safety: 8 Myths Debunked
EWG's Tips for Parents: The Series
EWG's Tips to avoid BPA exposure
EWG on TV
Cutting the Pork from U.S. Farm Bill
Sunscreen safety & DC drinking water
Perchlorate in people, kids' personal care products & plastics, and sunscreen
BPA in baby formula & safe cosmetics
What can I do about fluoride in my water?
What is new carpet treated with? What can I do?
Are stainless steel water bottles safe?
Is mineral-based makeup safer?
PEOPLE TALKING TOXICS
TALK TO US
Did we miss something? Email Enviroblog.
« What's Inside: Clorox Shares a Little | Main | Borax: Not the green alternative it's cracked up to be »
Bottled Water Industry to EWG: Shut Up!
By Alex Formuzis, EWG VP for Media Relations
When the head of a public interest group (like, say, EWG) receives a threatening letter from one of the nation's top industry lobbyists, it generally means he's done something right.
On January 27, 2011, Joseph Doss president of the International Bottled Water Association demanded that Environmental Working Group president Ken Cook and his organization stop ranking and rating various bottled water brands.
A good sign: Our reports hit a nerve with industry
EWG's 2011 bottled water scorecard hit a nerve with the industry. We found that many brands routinely fail to provide information to consumers about the water's specific geographic source, purification methods and the results of purity testing. Overall, more than half of the 173 bottled water brands surveyed flunked EWG's transparency test.
Only 3 of the 173 brands we surveyed divulged answers to these three questions:
- Where does the water come from?
- Is it purified? How?
- Have tests found any contaminants?
Many brands make vague claims of a pristine source or purity -- but offer few concrete facts. If people are willing to pay up 1,900 times the cost of tap water, they deserve better than that.
They told EWG to "cease and desist"
"IBWA demands that the Environmental Working Group immediately cease and desist from making and propagating false, misleading, unsubstantiated, and disparaging statements about the labeling and quality of bottled water," Doss wrote in a letter to Cook. We're having it framed.
Misleading and unsubstantiated statements? Hardly. We extensively surveyed websites and labels and called dozens of customer service numbers to nail down the facts. We reported to the public precisely what we found - no more, no less.
If Doss would like to address some of the claims his members make on their labels, we're all ears. For instance, what does this boast even mean (courtesy of Oregon Rain Natural Virgin Water)?
"100% rainwater. Over the Pacific Ocean, where fresh, cold air from the North Pole meets warm air from the equator, clouds dripping with naturally clean, pure water are produced. These clouds travel from the ocean, avoiding populated areas and arrive over the Willamette Valley. There on a specialized farm, Oregon Rain captures the water, passes it through a one-third micron filter and ozonates it in the bottle. The result is truly Heaven in a Glass."
We deconstruct more marketing hype in our 2011 bottled water labeling study.
You have a right to know
Water utilities are required by law to test regularly for pollutants and make yearly reports to customers. The bottled water industry doesn't have to tell the consumer a single thing about the contaminants inside those plastic bottles.
Apparently, Doss and the bottled water industry want to keep it that way.
These intimidation tactics by the bottled water industry and its Washington, D.C. lobbyists won't fly. EWG will keep doing what it does best - advancing the public's right to know about what's in food, water and household protects.
If you agree with us, drop Joseph Doss a note. Here's his email: jdoss@bottledwater.org. And here's EWG President Ken Cook's letter back to Doss - it's a good read.
Contrary to EWG’s blog posting, IBWA did not demand that EWG stop ranking and rating various bottled water brands. IBWA’s written communication with EWG on January 26, 2011, asked your organization to cease making false statements about bottled water products. Along with our letter to Ken Cook, we provided a detailed analysis of the EWG “Scorecard” report, in which IBWA points specifically to EWG’s many flawed and incorrect statements contained within the EWG report. I find it interesting that EWG chose not to include the IBWA response to the EWG bottled water report to your readers. I am therefore attaching a link to the IBWA correction/rebuttal so that your blog’s readers can have access to full and open disclosure about bottled water, so that they are better informed about the regulation and safety of bottled water. http://www.bottledwater.org/news/bottled-water-labels-scorecard-environmental-working-group-fda-epa-tap-water-spring-water-purified-water-food
TOM LAURIA
Vice President, Communications
International Bottled Water Association
Thanks, Tom.
Happy to post the letter - in fact, I added it to the post, above. Glad you agree that consumers should be better informed about the regulation of bottled water.
It would be great if your member companies would volunteer to take the next steps and disclose to consumers their geographic sources of their water, how it's treated, and what contaminants it contains. Public water utilities that supply tap water have to disclose water quality reports. We believe bottled water companies should, too.
Best, Alex Formuzis, EWG
Alex, you rock!