What guarantees of transparency for bottled water in France?

As COP 29 on global warming has just ended, in France an observation is clear: water resources are becoming more and more sensitive. Bottled water represents a considerable market there. A French person drinks on average 118 liters of bottled water each year; the amount of sales is twelve billion euros – a third of which goes to the Swiss multinational Nestlé.

However, everything is not crystal clear: several manufacturers filter unduly, sometimes taking too much while polluting the resource. Over the course of 2024, several serious failings have been revealed.

In January, an investigation Le Monde-Radio France reveals fraud by the company Nestlé Waters (owning the brands Perrier, Vittel, Hépar, Contrex) on prohibited filtrations. The two media outlets were based on a repression investigation by the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF).

A clear deception by certain manufacturers

However, for water to be labeled mineral, it must not undergo mechanical treatments such as membrane microfiltration (which is authorized for tap water). And when we know that a liter of mineral water is worth a hundred times more than a liter of tap water…

This is a consumer deception, with no repercussions on human health. But there is also a poor collaboration between and within competent authorities, both centrally and locally », Severely concludes an audit report from the European Commission, in June 2024, about the French control services.

“Misguided” filtration

As early as 2020, non-compliant processing was reported at Cristalline by a whistleblower employee. The DGCCRF investigations, in 2021, then established microfiltration “ misguided » with activated carbon adsorption and ultraviolet treatment, which are strictly prohibited.

The Alma group (Courmayeur, Vichy Célestins, Saint-Yorre) is, for its part, the subject of a complaint from several environmental associations in 2020 for illegal drilling and sampling without authorization.

The Foodwatch association, for its part, filed a complaint in February 2024, for contamination by numerous pollutants from the Vittel source – triggering the opening of an investigation by the Epinal public prosecutor's office (Vosges). It concluded, in June 2024, with the payment of damages in the amount of two million euros. 

On October 31, Mediapart also publishes information – based on an internal Nestlé report – revealing the presence of arsenic in the waters of Vittel.

Failures or even failures of state services

Launched urgently in the spring and led by elected official Antoinette Guhl, the report of the Senate flash investigation notes, in October 2024, the vulnerability of French aquifers to climate change and the pressure which affects their quality and their renewal . He suggests “ make public the quantities of water taken by operators “, but also ” to update the action plan on micropollutants by including packaged water in order to have complete information on their level of pollution ».

Unannounced checks in response

This senatorial investigation – highlighting failures or even shortcomings in state services – finally recommends unannounced inspections of manufacturers to counter fraud. Nestlé Waters was singled out for its unwillingness to help investigators.

To the point that the new general director of the group, Laurent Freixe, has just announced, Tuesday, November 19, a possible sale of its drinks segment for 2025. It is up to the potential buyer to clean up the reputation of the famous labels.