Nestlé: the French authorities order to withdraw the filtration

The Gard prefecture, in the south of France, put in notice on Wednesday Nestlé Waters, a subsidiary of the food giant, to “withdraw within two months” its system of microfiltration of its mineral water Perrier, in Vergèze.

(Keystone-ATS) At the same time, the Gard prefecture clarified to continue “the investigation of the request for renewal of the authorization” granted to Nestlé to exploit its vergèze drilling “intended for the manufacture of natural mineral water” Perrier, stressing that “the prefect’s decision must intervene before August 7”.

Natural mineral waters are supervised by a 2009 European directive, which on the one hand defines them by their mineral content and their “original purity”, and on the other hand indicates that they cannot be the subject of any disinfection and any treatment likely to modify their “microbism” (microbial flora).

Treatments can be authorized – prefectural decree in France – either to remove “unstable elements” such as iron, manganese, arsenic and sulfur, in particular thanks to filtration, or to retain “unwanted constituents”.

At the beginning of 2024, the Nestlé group had publicly recognized that it had used prohibited treatments (ultraviolet and active coal) in the past), then replaced them with a microfiltration system “Cartridge at 0.2 micron”, necessary to “ensure food security” of products.

Negative opinion on boreholes

It is therefore this microfiltration system that Nestlé will have to delete on his Vergèze site, faced with the formal notice of the authorities.

Concerning the possibility for Nestlé to continue to exploit its five boreholes in Vergèze from which it draws its natural mineral water Perrier, hydrogeologists solicited by the Gard prefecture have already rendered a negative opinion, had revealed on April 9 before a senatorial commission the director general of Nestlé, Laurent Freixe.

Faced with the difficulty for him to produce in Vergèze water respecting the standards required for natural mineral waters, the Nestlé group had already reallocated two drilling on this site, in 2022, to produce its new brand “Maison Perrier”, a drink sold without this name “natural mineral water”.

The association of consumer Foodwatch estimated on Wednesday in a press release that “this decision goes in the right direction”, hoping that the judicial information started in parallel with these requests for administrative authorizations will allow for its part to “shed light on the actions committed by the multinational and its officials”.

Contacted by AFP, Nestlé Waters did not react immediately on Wednesday afternoon.