Nestlé scandal: illegal filters authorized by France

Nestlé scandal: illegal filters authorized by France


Updated

Mineral watersNeither “agreement” nor “connivance” with Nestlé, says Emmanuel Macron

The president reacts to accusations that the government and himself favored the interests of Nestlé.

The French authorities have authorized Nestlé to market waters not in accordance with regulations and at risk for health, reveals a Radio France and

The French authorities have authorized Nestlé to market waters not in accordance with regulations and at risk for health, reveals a Radio France and “world” survey.

AFP

“Le Monde” and Radio France claim in an investigation Tuesday that the services of Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and the French presidency allowed Nestlé to market waters not in accordance with regulations and at risk to health, despite the prohibition recommendations health authorities, from 2023.

French President Emmanuel Macron assured Tuesday that there was neither “agreement” nor “connivance” with Nestlé, reacting to these accusations. “I am not aware of these things. There is no agreement with anyone, there is no connivance with anyone, “the president told journalists.

At the beginning of 2024, targeted by first revelations, Nestlé Waters, a subsidiary of the Swiss agrifood giant, acknowledged having used microfiltration systems to maintain the “food security” of its mineral waters.

At the beginning of 2024, targeted by first revelations, Nestlé Waters, a subsidiary of the Swiss agrifood giant, acknowledged having used microfiltration systems to maintain the “food security” of its mineral waters.

The group, owner in France of the Vittel, Contrex and Hépar brands, drawn from the Vosges, and Perrier from the Gard, agreed in September 2024 to pay a fine of 2 million euros to escape a trial, after a complaint of The Foodwatch association.

Privileged Nestlé interests

Quoting “exchanges of email and ministerial notes”, the two media accuse the services of the then Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, of having in 2023 “privileged the interests of Nestlé to the detriment of consumers” by granting the group of derogations on the use of microfilters.

Radio France and Le Monde report a note of January 20, 2023 of the Director General of Health (DGS), Jérôme Salomon, who recommends “immediately suspend the authorization to operate and package water for sites Nestlé des Vosges “and to extend this prohibition” to the traffic jam site of Perrier (in Vergèze, South) “.

Jérôme Salomon cited a report by the National Health Safety Agency (ANSES) on the use of microfilters less than 0.8 micrometer, which concluded that the water out of the well was “not microbiologically healthy”.

This note, which would have been transmitted to the cabinet of the Prime Minister, recommended to refuse to Nestlé any derogation, at the risk of litigation with Brussels. But a month later, the firms of the French presidency and the Prime Minister have authorized microfiltration, according to the two media.

Global magnitude

This authorization would be the fruit of an asset lobbying, until a meeting between representatives of Nestlé and Alexis Kohler, secretary general of the Élysée.

Solicited by AFP, the Élysée did not follow up in the immediate future, just like the DGS. Also asked, Nestlé had not yet reacted to this information.

Press revelations led the Senate to launch a commission of inquiry in November. A first senatorial report in October 2024 already pointed out the “opacity” of public authorities and industrialists in this file.

Foodwatch again filed a complaint this fall against the practices of Nestlé and the Alma Sources group (Cristaline, St-Yorre …). The CONSUMER ASSOCIATION CLCV also filed a complaint against X.

“The French government would have endorsed world -scale fraud. Foodwatch requests that a lawsuit establish responsibilities and that exemplary sanctions fall, ”reacted the NGO on Tuesday.

(afp)



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