The ARS of Occitanie is sounding the alarm: the quality of the Perrier water produced by the Vergèze site (Gard) is said to be “worrying”. The investigation unit of Radio France and the newspaper “Le Monde” revealed a report this Monday morning inviting Nestlé to cease production. The multinational does not “wish to comment on the report before its final version”.
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These are revelations which risk having the effect of a bomb in the town of Vergèze (Gard). Almost a year after a first scandal over the use of filters banned from treating contaminated water, the Nestlé Waters group and its Perrier factory are once again seeing the quality of their water resources called into question. A new report from the Regional Health Agency (ARS), dated August 30 and unveiled this Monday by the newspaper “Le Monde” and the investigation unit of Radio France, overwhelms the Vergèze site, revealing in particular “that the quality controls carried out by the company present “unusual results for natural mineral water”“.
► ALSO READ: Nestlé treated water affair: a Senate report points the finger at the Perrier factory in Gard
The ARS report, which follows a surprise inspection of the Perrier factory last spring, underlines in particular ““water instability”, and microbiological deviations, that is to say the presence of micro-organisms in raw water, in particular fecal germs“The health authority judges these discoveries.”unacceptable for natural mineral water“: clearly, it is the very name of Perrier water which is called into question here.
The file revealed by our colleagues also mentions a possible “virological risk“for consumers, since the microfilters used by the Nestlé Waters group would be”non-regulatory“and would not have”no effect retention on viruses“. The government, alerted several times in 2022 while Elisabeth Borne was Prime Minister, “had still decided to grant an exemption to Nestlé, […] so that it can continue to use these non-compliant filters“, reveals the investigation.
The Gard prefecture should have the last word in this matter, since it must render a decision during the “first half of 2025“, “on the request for renewal of the operating authorization for the “Perrier source” to produce natural mineral water“.
Contacted by France 3 Occitanie this Monday, December 16, the management, the unions and the municipality of Vergèze have not yet responded to our requests. Speaking to AFP, Nestlé Waters says it does not want “comment on the report before its final version“, believing to operate”the Vergèze site in accordance with the framework set by the authorities and under their control“. She would wait for a “opinions of approved hydrogeologists in matters of public hygiene“, in addition to the work of the ARS of Occitania.
► The complete investigation by the Radio France Investigation Unit can be found here: Perrier natural mineral waters: the report which accuses the Nestlé group
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