March 11, 2008
Experts and Bottled Water Industry Confident that Technical and Safety Measures Used to Produce and Process Bottled Water are Effective in Protecting From Pharmaceutical Contamination
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Standards Provide Tough Protection
Bottled Water is NOT Simply Tap Water in a Bottle International
A recent Associated Press article reports that trace amounts of pharmaceuticals have been found in some U.S. municipal drinking water systems. The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) would like to remind consumers that bottled water is not simply tap water in a bottle and that the safety and quality of bottled water produced in accordance with US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards do not pose a health risk due to pharmaceuticals or other substances. Bottled water is comprehensively regulated as a packaged food product by FDA. Bottled water companies use a multi-barrier approach to bottled water safety, which includes source protection, source monitoring, reverse osmosis, distillation, filtration and other purification techniques, ozonation or ultraviolet (UV) light. The combination of FDA and state regulations, along with a multi-barrier approach and other protective measures, means that consumers can remain confident in choosing bottled water.
Stephen C. Edberg, Ph.D., ABMM, Yale University School of Medicine (ww.yale.edu/labmed/edberg), stated that consumers should be confident in bottled water as a safe beverage choice. Dr. Edberg stated, “The technical and safety measures used to produce and process bottled water are extremely effective in protecting the product from these and other substances that were reported in the article, should they be present in source water to begin with. This report raises no concern for the safety of bottled water.”
Consumers should also consider these additional measures, which help ensure the safety and quality of bottled water: