Here is some exciting news for all fairy tale lovers After undergoing a major refurbishment that lasted several months the enchanting Fantasyland attraction Le Pays des Contes de Fées will welcome back guests on August 30 unveiling an all-new chapter in its history.    Speaking of history, Le Pays des Contes de Fées is blowing out 30 candles this year Disney Imagineers dreamed up the addition of three new scenes inspired by Walt Disney Animation Studios films “Frozen” and “Winnie the Pooh”, and Pixar Animation Studios film “Up” to the beloved attraction.  When relaxing cruises through the whimsical world of fairy tales resume guests of all ages will have the opportunity to discover an array of new décor elements including of the majestic North Mountain overlooked by Elsa’s iconic Ice Palace Carl Fredricksen’s house flying above Paradise Falls and Winnie the Pooh’s treehouse.  Imagineers worked hand in hand with Landscaping Design & Delivery teams at Disneyland Paris.  While finishing touches are being added to Storybook Land the giant book that serves as a gateway to a magical journey through the world of fairytales has  returned to its original spot after being redesigned to reflect the fan-favorite stories celebrated across the attraction in Disneyland Paris’ workshops This incredible transformation doesn’t stop there as surrounding pathways also underwent thorough renovation!   Additionally,  Le Pays des Contes de Fées will welcome Vittel® as its presenting sponsor extending its longstanding corporate alliance relationship with Disneyland Paris Guests will discover an updated marquee and new décor elements in the attraction’s queue line integrating the sponsor throughout the experience and celebrating the role that water has played as a vital source of inspiration for magical adventures in Disney stories Since 1994, Le Pays des Contes de Fées has taken guests on a journey to many kingdoms and faraway places from around the world in miniature style Based on an original idea from Walt Disney himself the attraction is a reinvention of the classic Storybook Land Canal Boats that debuted at Disneyland in 1956 The Paris version has several unique touches with recreations of Belle’s Village from “Beauty and the Beast” and Rapunzel’s Tower from “Tangled” This sneak peek of the redesigned attraction poster that will soon be displayed under Main Street station is sure to make all fans feel “happy ever after!” Le Pays des Contes de Fées and Casey Jr – le Petit Train du Cirque will reopen on August 30 We and our partners process information about you your devices and your online behavior using technologies such as cookies for the purpose of providing personalizing content or advertising displayed on this site and other sites applications or platforms and to provide social networking functionality allow basic functions and are necessary for the proper functioning of the website Statistics cookies collect information anonymously This information helps us understand how visitors use our website Content from video platforms and social networks is blocked by default access to content from external media no longer requires manual consent The Vittel maker said the report did "not constitute a definitive recommendation on the operating conditions of our mineral water site in Vergèze" Nestlé’s waters division should consider ending production at its Vergèze site due to health risks according to a confidential report from the regional health agency Agence Régional de Santé Occitanie (ARS) allegedly recommended “stopping production of mineral water at the Vergèze site” in the south of France completed in August by ARS after its probe of the site in May said the company should consider halting production due to health risks from the worsening state of water catchments The ARS reportedly recommended the group should “consider strategically another possible food use for the current mineral water catchments” if “additional health and safety guarantees” are put in place the Vittel maker said the assessment was “a preliminary administrative report which has since been supplemented by the technical clarifications provided by Nestlé Waters regarding all the points raised” The document “does not constitute a definitive recommendation on the operating conditions of our mineral water site in Vergèze” Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis Nestlé added that the findings did “not call into question the food safety of our bottled waters” adding: “All waters produced by Nestlé Waters the mission acknowledged the measures implemented by Nestlé Waters in its water quality management system which includes an enhanced quality control procedure to continue ensuring the food safety of our products under all circumstances.” Nestlé’s water business in France has seen a turbulent year the Swiss food and drink giant suspended a well at its Vergèze site which is used to supply Perrier bottled water This resulted in the company having to throw away “several batches” of Perrier water A spokesperson told Just Drinks at the time all products delivered to customers and available on-shelf were safe to drink Reports at the time from Le Monde also indicated that faecal bacteria was found in the well citing French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) said local government officials had granted Nestlé a formal notice to “immediately suspend” operations at the water site which had been contaminated since 10 March 2024 Reports then emerged in June claiming Nestlé had suspended production at two water wells for disinfection While Le Monde and Radio France reported the closure had meant the company was falling short of volumes needed to produce one-litre bottles the company said production of the one-litre products had not stopped Just Drinks has asked Nestlé whether production is still suspended at the two wells in Vergèze Concerns have been raised over the quality of the Hépar manufacturer’s water in France since October 2023 Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES) notified the country’s government of its doubts over the quality of Nestlé’s mineral water In a statement sent to Just Drinks in April ANSES said its assessment “attests to an insufficient level of confidence” in the quality of the water the agency recommended the health ministry agency initiate a “reinforced surveillance plan” to look into “exploited water resources” and monitor potential “microbiological indicators… especially those relating to viruses” In January, Nestlé admitted it had breached French laws around how bottled water is treated against contamination Le Monde at the time said Nestlé had reportedly used disinfectants “due to sporadic bacterial or chemical contamination” it is illegal to use purification techniques on products labelled as ‘spring’ or ‘mineral’ water as they are supposed to come from preserved underground resources and should be safe to drink when they emerge from the well Nestlé said it has used “microfiltration at [its] Waters sites at a finer level than was previously recognised by the French authorities” “We have also used activated carbon filters and ultraviolet systems which are not in line with applicable French natural mineral water regulations,” Nestlé added Nominations are now open for the prestigious Just Drinks Excellence Awards - one of the industry's most recognised programmes celebrating innovation This is your chance to showcase your achievements Don't miss the opportunity to be honoured among the best - submit your nomination today Give your business an edge with our leading industry insights View all newsletters from across the GlobalData Media network Tuesday World Subscribers only Friedrich Merz bets on two private sector converts to revive the German economy and reform the state World Subscribers only 'A Pope in the tradition of Francis': From New York to Ghana Catholics hope for continuity at the Vatican World Subscribers only Chancellor Merz's diplomatic first week 2025."> World Trump's proposal to reopen Alcatraz deemed 'absurd' in San Francisco World Subscribers only Founder of Sant'Egidio community fears next pope could undo Francis's legacy Opinion Subscribers only 'Russian gas and Europe is an old story that ended badly Economy Subscribers only Europe's steel industry flattened by crisis World Subscribers only How European countries plan to fund defense efforts France Subscribers only Macron announces citizens' convention on school schedules France Subscribers only 21 charged over French prison attacks as investigation narrows in on drug traffickers France Subscribers only French mosque stabber was driven by 'morbid fascination,' prosecutor says France Subscribers only At the trial of Kim Kardashian's robbers Videos World expos: From Paris 1855 to Osaka 2025 Videos How the Trump administration is attacking scientific research in the US Videos Tesla cars set on fire in Las Vegas as calls to boycott Musk's company grow worldwide Videos Can France's nuclear deterrent protect Europe Opinion Subscribers only 'It is pointless to imagine a significant wave of American academics leaving' Opinion Subscribers only 'The American dream is dying' Opinion Subscribers only 'The trade war creates new opportunities for Europeans and France' Magazine Subscribers only Tracking down the pianos taken from French Jews during the Nazi Occupation Magazine Subscribers only Eve Rodsky the American helping couples balance the mental load Magazine Subscribers only Desecration or more glory Joan Didion's private diaries are revealed Magazine Subscribers only For Jewish cartoonist Joann Sfar 2025."> Pixels Subscribers only Golden Owl solution is revealed but leaves players of 31-year hunt disappointed Pixels Subscribers only Secrets of decades-long Golden Owl treasure hunt to be revealed Lifestyle Inside Chanel's French leather workshops Culture Subscribers only The marvelous bronzes of Angkor on display at the Musée Guimet in Paris which just reported higher sales for the first quarter has been largely unaffected by the mineral water fraud involving Vittel and Perrier the company has begun divesting from its water business By Laurence Girard At the entrance of the Stéphane-Diagana stadium with the logo of the French sparkling mineral water brand Perrier SYLVAIN THOMAS / AFP Further contaminations were detected in March and April at the Perrier production site in Vergèze this affair has had little impact on the accounts of the global agri-food leader it announced a sales increase of 2.3% to 22.6 billion Swiss francs (€24 billion) for the first quarter of its fiscal year 2025 and 2.8% at constant exchange rates and scope It also confirmed its targets for the whole of 2025 It is true that the water business is the smallest segment for the Swiss giant It accounted for 3.2 billion Swiss francs in 2024 It further grew by 3.9% in the first quarter of 2025 As for the operating margin of this branch it is much lower than that of the group as a whole You have 75.04% of this article left to read Lecture du Monde en cours sur un autre appareil Vous pouvez lire Le Monde sur un seul appareil à la fois Ce message s’affichera sur l’autre appareil Parce qu’une autre personne (ou vous) est en train de lire Le Monde avec ce compte sur un autre appareil Vous ne pouvez lire Le Monde que sur un seul appareil à la fois (ordinateur En cliquant sur « Continuer à lire ici » et en vous assurant que vous êtes la seule personne à consulter Le Monde avec ce compte Que se passera-t-il si vous continuez à lire ici Ce dernier restera connecté avec ce compte Vous pouvez vous connecter avec votre compte sur autant d’appareils que vous le souhaitez mais en les utilisant à des moments différents Nous vous conseillons de modifier votre mot de passe Votre abonnement n’autorise pas la lecture de cet article merci de contacter notre service commercial The scandal of the fake Perrier and Vittel mineral waters continues with new revelations from Le Monde and the investigative cell of Radio France on the lobbying strategy of Nestlé Waters conducted in France at the highest levels of government A series of documents demonstrate that at least since 2021 the head of government and the president of the Republic were aware of the illegal purification treatments of contaminated water marketed as 'spring water' or 'natural mineral water' Food fraud perpetrated by Nestlé Waters on the fake mineral waters branded Perrier and Vittel has already been widely documented the use of which in mineral waters is strictly prohibited by the Mineral Waters Directive 2009/54/EC The fake mineral waters Perrier and Vittel were sold at a high price in every country in the world – make illicit profits which a report by the Directorate-General for Competition Consumers and the Fight against Fraud (DGCCRF) has estimated at over €3 billion; (3) despite the strong opposition of Foodwatch with a plea bargain that cost less than 0,1% of the value of the illicit profits the carbon filters and the fine mesh microfilters used to purify the water are not able to guarantee food safety To the point that the local health authorities - having verified the recurrence of contamination by fecal bacteria and viruses - have gone so far as to order the closure of the plant The February 4 2025 Le Monde and Radio France have revealed the contents of the 'documents that now allow us to reconstruct the chain of political responsibility for what appears to be a secret agreement between the French state and a multinational which in turn was the source of a large-scale deception Numerous meetings and discussions were thus organised at the highest levels of the State between Nestlé executives and the advisors and chiefs of staff of numerous political leaders: from – Elisabeth Borne (Matignon) [Prime Minister An email specifically attests to a meeting between representatives of the multinational and Alexis Kohler (1) The latter appears to have met with company executives and to be among the recipients of emails explicitly mentioning the topic of contamination from drilling which the Director General of Health Jérôme Salomon in 2023 defined as 'blackmail' – launched by Nestlé in August 2021 with the support of lobbyists Brunswick Group – 'had the effect of convincing the State to circumvent the legislation relating to natural mineral waters The French government has thus granted the agri-food group the possibility of subjecting the water to prohibited treatments Although the Directorate-General for Health and its ministry had informed the collaborators of the Prime Minister and Emmanuel Macron that this request 'it was not acceptable' for food safety reasons The arguments used by Nestlé lobbyists An adviser to the Ministry of Industry reported in an email dated January 16 2023 that Nestlé Waters Supply Est had highlighted the threat to 155 jobs 'And if microfiltration at 0,2 was not authorized it would be necessary to add between 170 and 190 additional jobs lost.' The actual nature of these threats was confirmed with the definitive closure - by Nestlé in that same period - of the Buitoni plant in Caudry (France) a year after the scandal of pizzas contaminated by E.coli that caused the death of two children (6,7) The telematic correspondence examined by Le Monde and Radio France also reveals that Nestlé executives and lobbyists had access to confidential information and documents on the activities and investigative reports of the health authorities.  The meetings between the representatives of the Nestlé group with the secretary general of the Elysée Alexis Kohler and his advisers were not registered as they should have been in the register of theHigh Authority for Transparency in Public Life have been subjected to a gigantic food fraud for at least 15 years in addition to being exposed to serious public health risks.  The EFSA and ECDC's One Health report on the inspection conducted at the Perrier factory by the Occitania Regional Health Agency - 'microbiological deviations in all watersheds (coliforms – drillings that showed traces of chemical pollutants (pesticide metabolites and PFAS – a whole series of 'prohibited treatments: double pipes and UV treatments and activated carbons hidden behind electrical cabinets and annexes' and 'microfiltration at 0,2 microns' well below the authorised threshold (0,8 microns) The outcome of this affair will indicate which reforms are necessary to guarantee effective protection of European citizens which still appears (1) Scandale des eaux en bouteille: de l'Élysée à Matignon, révélations sur le lobbying de Nestlé au sommet de l'Etat. Radio France. 4.2.25 https://tinyurl.com/4ky79utz (2) Dario Dongo. Nestlé, 15 years of fraud on French mineral water. FT (Food Times) (3) Pascale Pascariello. Eaux en bouteille scandal: Nestlé fraud has reached more than 3 billion in 15 years. Mediapart. 18.7.24 https://tinyurl.com/mr4dma77 (4) Dario Dongo, Marta Strinati. Mineral Water Fraud, Nestlé Waters Settles. FT (Food Times) (5) Dario Dongo. Perrier water, virus risk added to Nestlé fraud. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade) (6) Contaminated pizzas: the Buitoni habit definitively stops in Caudry. Le Point. 30.3.23 https://tinyurl.com/4pjvwabt (7) Marta Strinati. Pizza Fraîch'Up, Nestlé Buitoni plant was a ticking time bomb. FT (Food Times) (8) Nestlé Waters Management and Technology. High Authority for Transparency in Public Life https://tinyurl.com/5b9bkjsn founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité Great Italian Food Trade is the portal created to share Italian food excellence on a global level to encourage the increase in international trade in food GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade) di WIISE srl is distributed under license Creative Commons Attribution - Non commercial - No derivative works 4.0 International tag = d.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.src="https://cdn.iubenda.com/iubenda.js"; tag.parentNode.insertBefore(s,tag);}; if(w.addEventListener){w.addEventListener("load" false);}else if(w.attachEvent){w.attachEvent("onload" loader);}else{w.onload = loader;}})(window CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE TDN FOR FREE! Remember Ben with a gift to Thoroughbred aftercare Subscribe for FREE to the Daily PDF or the News Alerts Home » Archive » Top News Europe » Freshman Sire Chachnak Off the Mark at Vittel Haras de la Gastine resident Chachnak (Fr) (Kingman {GB} became Europe's latest first-crop sire to get off the mark when his Jerome Andreu-trained son Baliros (Fr) made a winning debut in Thursday's Prix Bernard Chabot (Grand Criterium des 2 Ans de Vittel) at Vittel Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts. Copy Article Link Editor / News Stories:editor@thetdn.com Advertising:advertising@thetdn.com Customer Service:customerservice@thetdn.com Click Here to sign up for a free subscription You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed News & Analysis on Food & Beverage Development & Technology 01-Mar-2024 Last updated on 02-Mar-2024 at 13:24 GMT Nestlé Waters is facing legal action in France over allegations it used unauthorised treatment methods for products marketed as natural mineral water Consumer watchdog foodwatch has filed a lawsuit against Nestlé’s bottled water division whose brands include Cristaline and Saint Antonin ripped off and defrauded consumers,” claims international campaign director Ingrid Kragl “The companies illegally treated contaminated water and sold ordinary tap water as high-quality mineral water.” Not above board when selling natural mineral waters in Europe According to the Directive 2009/54/EC ‘natural mineral water’ means microbiologically wholesome water It can be clearly distinguished from ordinary drinking water by its mineral content These characteristics are preserved intact because being sourced from underground such water has been protected from all risk of pollution Only a few treatment processes are permitted in the production and processing of natural mineral water but foodwatch is accusing Nestlé and Sources Alma of straying from the list And foodwatch is not the only one. The legal action comes after French media outlets Le Monde and Radio France claimed that at least a third of France-based ‘spring’ and ‘natural mineral water’ brands have used illegal purification techniques Nestlé Waters told Agence France-Presse (AFP) it informed French authorities in 2021 that it had used ultraviolet treatments and activated carbon filters – both banned in natural mineral water production – on some of its waters to maintain their food safety Nestlé assures consumers the label matches the bottle contents According to Nestlé, the banned processing methods were employed to ensure product safety. Nestlé France president Muriel Lienau told AFP filters can help remove chemical and microbiological elements that accumulate when water passes through groundwater or through factory pipes Nestlé’s focus on food safety was reiterated during the company’s 2023 results briefing last week. “We stressed this very important primary goal of food safety in all our publications around that issue and it is something I wanted to assure all consumers about,” said CEO Mark Schneider. “I also wanted to stress and point out that the unique mineral content of our waters, that’s indicated on the water, [is] exactly what you’ll find in the bottle.” Schneider continued: “We proactively approached the French government with this issue [and] worked very patiently under their guidance to address these issues.” As to foodwatch’s lawsuit, Nestlé had yet to receive the details in full, but will ‘study’ that once in its hands. “We’ll keep you posted on any relevant development there,” the CEO told journalists. Waters far from Nestlé’s best performing category While Nestlé may be the world’s largest bottled water company, the water category is not the multinational’s top performer. In FY 2022, just 4% of the company’s sales was attributed to water, although organic sales growth was strong at 11%. Water was Nestlé’s second highest growth category behind PetCare at 14.5%. While water posted double-digit growth, premium water recorded mid single-digit growth, with a sales decrease in the fourth quarter mainly due to temporary capacity constraints. In FY 2023, PetCare continued to be the largest growth contributor at 12.1%, but water (which again attributed 4% in sales), had dropped to equal lowest growth performer at 4.9% alongside the prepared dishes & cooking aids category. Unlike in 2022, confectionery, powdered & liquid beverages, milk products & ice cream, and nutrition & health sciences all outperformed water in terms of organic sales growth. Within water, some brands grew more than others. “Sales in water grew by 4.9% despite temporary capacity constraints for Perrier and a high base of comparison in 2022,” explained CFO François-Xavier Roger. Nestlé consumers trade down, favour private label amid ‘unprecedented’ inflation23-Feb-2024By Flora SoutheyWhile the FMCG major’s volume growth suffered in 2023, the company is observing boosted demand for both affordable and premium products. Recent success for Welsh food and drink as it targets international marketsPaid for and content provided by Welsh Government Mastering mouthfeel: The importance of mouthfeel in making brands thrivePaid for and in partnership with Tate & Lyle Rethinking eggs for a resilient food future a ‘matter of necessity’Paid for and content provided by CSM Group (CSM Ingredients & HIFOOD) Contrex and Hépar brands are now compliant with French laws on production Nestlé has agreed a settlement and €2m ($2.2) fine with French authorities over claims of breaching laws on mineral water and illegal drilling The deal follows two investigations by prosecutors at the Épinal law courts in north-eastern France Nestlé was accused of using multiple purification treatments on bottled water that was labelled ‘mineral water’ it is illegal to use purification techniques on water products labelled ‘spring’ or ‘mineral’ as they are already considered safe to drink due to being sourced directly from protected natural springs The food and beverage giant previously stated it had used activated carbon filters and ultraviolet systems in the purification of its water brands both of which are not allowed by French mineral water regulators A spokesperson for Nestlé said today (11 September) there was no harm to the public from the company’s treatment of the water adding the “treatments previously carried out on the captured water had in no way altered the mineral composition of the marketed water” all of Nestlé Waters Supply Est activities have complied with the regulatory framework in force and are in line with the latest directives given by the authorities,” the spokesperson added Contrex and Hépar brands are now fully compliant with French laws on the production of natural mineral water Non-profit organisation Foodwatch has hit out at the Épinal prosecutors’ decision to allow Nestlé to enter a Public Interest Judicial Agreement (CJIP) “This is a scandalous decision that sends a very bad message about the climate of impunity,” Foodwatch fraud expert Ingrid Kragl said “Nestlé Waters can deceive consumers for years all over the world and get away with it by simply taking out the chequebook Given the seriousness and extent of the facts the numerous violations of the public health code and the consumer code it is unacceptable that this massive fraud is swept under the carpet in this way.” The second investigation concerned Nestlé’s authorisation to drill for water in the Vosges mountains of eastern France Nestlé said its CJIP agreement “underlines” that its drilling operations in the Vosges basin were approved in 2019 The group also said the CJIP set out commitments to local ecological projects in the region Nestlé said it will “invest” €1.1m towards the renaturation of two watercourses a project to be overseen by the French Office for Biodiversity Welcome to packagingeurope.com. This site uses cookies. Read our policy Nestlé has developed two new packaging innovations for its Vittel natural mineral water bottles with the goal of reducing its use of plastic while maintaining the functionality of traditional plastic bottles The first innovation is the Vittel GO system which consists of a reusable hard protective case designed to hold 50cl refills of Vittel natural mineral water that are made with 40% less plastic than a traditional 50cl Vittel bottle Nestlé says that because the refills are made with as little plastic as possible which means they must be used with the reusable protective case to make it easy to drink the water The second packaging innovation is a recyclable 1-litre Vittel Hybrid bottle that is made from two types of material The first material is an ultra-thin plastic bottle made entirely from recycled content It reportedly uses two times less plastic than a classic 1L bottle The plastic layer is surrounded by a fibre-based material made from 100% recycled cardboard and old newspapers proprietary technologies enable the plastic and fibre-based layers to be locked together to create a functional sturdy water bottle that can be used without any damage Nestlé’s packaging experts are currently developing a tearing system that they hope will allow consumers to easily separate the paper and plastic components for recycling when the hybrid bottle is empty These new innovations were developed by experts at Nestlé's research and development centre for Waters in Vittel France who received special funding from Nestlé's internal R&D 'Shark-Tank' initiative the experts worked in collaboration with Ecologic Powered by Jabil a Californian start-up that specializes in eco-design of packaging Both the Vittel GO and Vittel Hybrid water bottles will be available for consumer testing in France in July These two innovations are part of the company's efforts to reduce its use of virgin plastics by one-third by 2025 Site powered by Webvision Cloud Vittel and San Pellegrino mineral water brands is to pay €2 million to avoid trial in France over alleged illegal practices to remove contaminants The agreement also ends investigations into allegations that the Swiss food and drink giant Nestlé extracted water from unauthorised wells Prosecutors opened the investigations after complaints by environmental and consumer groups last year In January, Nestlé Waters admitted it had breached French and EU regulations in the past by using ultraviolet disinfection and activated carbon filtration to purify bottled water Nestlé said it had since discontinued the practices which are banned in France for products labelled as “natural mineral water” In April a leaked official report revealed that traces A recent joint investigation from Radio France and Le Monde exposed a massive scandal in the bottled water industry in France Companies Nestlé Waters and Sources Alma used illegal treatments in products such as Vittel Consumers have been deceived by this massive fraud The investigation reveals that companies illegally treated their mineral water The beverage companies disinfected contaminated mineral water using illegal methods and Sources Alma even bottled tap water presenting it as mineral water  A third of the water sold in France is alleged to have undergone non-compliant treatment including well-known brands such as Perrier Such practices not only violate regulations on mineral water who trust and pay a premium for the purity and natural quality of these products.  foodwatch France filed a complaint for nine offences with the Paris Magistrates' Court after the companies illegally processed their bottled waters and sold them without informing consumers All the elements of a fraud are present: a clear breach of regulations and the intent to deceive since the companies concealed the filtration processes from the inspectors and were careful not to give information to consumers or retailers The beverage companies were able to sell their non-compliant products for years in France and probably also in other countries of the European internal market.  The lawsuit aims to shed light on these untransparent practices and hold those who are responsible into account – including multinational companies who cannot bypass the law.  Because the designation "natural mineral water" is governed by a strict European directive this significant fraud raises numerous questions about the implementation of the current legal provisions.  foodwatch has written to the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety to ask that full transparency is made about the response of the French authorities to the fraud in particular its failure to alert the European Commission and other Member States despite knowing about it since 2021 foodwatch is also asking the European Commission to take follow-up measures to ensure that such situation cannot happen again - in France and in other countries This scandal underscores the need for stricter regulatory enforcement and transparency in the food industry and shows once again that consumer protection and environmental stewardship should not rely solely on exposure work from whistleblowers and investigative journalists As millions of consumers have potentially been misled the demand for clear and honest information about food products has never been more critical.  foodwatch will continue to promote consumer rights and advocate for more stringent controls and effective penalties for those who disregard food safety regulatory obligations Join us in this fight for transparency and accountability in the food industry and sign the French petition: “Stop food scandals: More controls, transparency and sanctions!”   www.foodwatch.fr www.foodwatch.de www.foodwatch.nl www.foodwatch.at More information: Privacy Policy Change cookie settings: footer on every website Essential Cookies are necessary for enabling the core functionality of the site. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, which is why they cannot be deactivated or declined. Learn more about the cookies used Functional Cookies enable our website to provide enhanced functionality. If you choose to decline these cookies, certain functions, such as our campaign forms, may not work as intended. Learn more about the cookies used We analyse website visits in full compliance with data protection regulations and in an anonymized manner using Matomo's cookie-less tracking. In this consent banner, we ask you to allow us to perform further analysis by setting cookies. This enables us to evaluate data such as repeated visits to the site. Learn more about the cookies used Association pour la protection de l'Homme et de l'environnement Biodiversity damage and animal suffering on the menu of the largest frogs’ legs meal in the world 2023 – During the “Frog Fair” in Vittel in the Vosges region of France which will take place this year on 22 and 23 April about seven tonnes of frog legs are consumed in just two days by some 20,000 visitors where frog populations are already in alarming decline,” reports Charlotte Nithart of the French organisation Robin des Bois And Dr Sandra Altherr from the German organisation Pro Wildlife adds: “Do the visitors know that for their snacks frogs are amputated alive on the other side of the world?” which claims to be a celebration of French gastronomy where frogs are a cheap mass-commodity mostly imported from Asia The “Frog Fair” will be officially opened by a parade of the “Confrérie des Tastes-cuisses de Grenouilles de Vittel” (“Brotherhood of the Frog Legs-Tasting of Vittel”) which admits on its website: “Whatever its origin France is the biggest consumer of frogs’ legs According to a study by Pro Wildlife and Robin des Bois the European Union imports an average of 4070 tonnes of frogs’ legs each year – the equivalent of 80 to 200 million frogs “Our analysis showed that France imports a total of more than 3000 tonnes annually – 80% of which comes from Indonesia 3.4% from Turkey and just under 1% from Albania,” Nithart reports “European rules concerning consumer information on the species sold and the country of origin are often flouted.” “It’s absurd: the frogs that occur in nature here in Europe are protected under EU law But the EU still tolerates the collection of millions of animals in other countries – even if this threatens the frog populations there This is not at all in line with the EU’s recent biodiversity strategy.” criticises Altherr Demand in Europe causes deadly domino effect India and Bangladesh were the EU’s suppliers of frog legs But frog populations collapsed in these countries pest damage to crops and increased pesticide use Both countries pulled the emergency brake at the end of the 1980s with an export ban Indonesia has taken over the role of the most important supplier: Three-quarters of the frogs’ legs currently imported by the EU come from Indonesia where the frogs are still captured in the wild Populations of the larger species are being decimated one by one The species once frequently traded because of its large legs has already disappeared from the trade years ago Turkish researchers sounded the alarm that larger frog species could already be extinct in their country by 2030 if hunting for the frog leg market continues at current levels the first frog species are already under threat Pro Wildlife and Robin des Bois call for a stop to EU imports: “In the EU such a nature looting coupled with such cruel killing methods would not be allowed so the logical consequence must be to stop imports.” ® ROBIN DES BOIS | | Mentions Légales Water from the food and drink giant Nestlé and others was illegally filtered due to contaminated sources with 30% of the brands reportedly affected Nestlé infringed regulations on the maintenance of the safety of its water” FranceInfo has said that Nestlé was aware of the investigation and plans to publish the allegations as investigative journalists had sent it questions surrounding the case The issue is “more complex” than Nestlé would want the public to believe the Public Health Code mentions three types of bottled water: distinguished by its 'original purity' (such as Perrier Natural mineral waters and spring waters are supposed to be protected from the risks of contamination and pollution because they are drawn from deep underground aquifers they can only be purified by a limited number of treatments and the use of carbon filters or UV filters is banned The filter threshold must not be less than 0.8 microns and filtration must only be used on an ad-hoc basis to filter out minerals such as iron or manganese Natural mineral water is intended to be pure already so it should not require purification These strict rules are among the reasons that people in France often have such faith in natural mineral water which is 100 times more expensive than tap water The allegations about contaminated water sources and filtration practices centre on minutes from a meeting at the prime minister’s office at Matignon This meeting was held in February 2023 between the Economy Ministry and the Health Ministry The minutes mention “action” and “transformation” at Nestlé’s water packaging plants and “stronger bacteriological and virological monitoring of water quality” They also discuss “the possibility of authorising the practice of microfiltration of less than 0.8 microns by amending prefectural decrees” with possible authorisation from then-Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and found evidence - they claim - of misleading practices dating back years when an anonymous worker at the Alma factory alleged the practices in a report submitted to the fraud and consumer office la Direction générale de la concurrence de la consommation et de la répression des fraudes (DGCCRF) The factory belongs to the Sources Alma group which produces around 30 well-known water brands in France The DGCCRF found that the company appeared to be treating its water with non-compliant materials including an injection of iron sulphate and industrial CO2 microfiltration below the authorised thresholds and also mixing so-called ‘mineral’ or ‘spring’ water with water from the mains (tap water) opened a preliminary investigation on July 7 He told Le Monde and Radio France that “a judicial investigation could be opened for several offences involving deception” the Alma group has hit back by stating (in the present tense): “We do not use any non-compliant treatments” The DGCCRF has also reportedly made further discoveries and has said that the Alma group is not alone in its use of banned treatment practices and that there is evidence that many manufacturers in the sector have purchased unauthorised filters Nestlé Waters - which has two water packaging sites in France - was discovered to be among these Their factories are in Vosges (brands Vittel Nestlé accounts for more than a third of the bottled water market in France the manufacturing giant requested a confidential meeting with Industry Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher It reportedly said then that it had used non-compliant treatments adding that these were necessary to allow it to continue operating its water plants to deal with water that was regularly contaminated Nestlé also - it is claimed - asked the government for permission to continue using these treatments and suggested that the law be changed to allow the use of filters with a filtration capacity of less than 0.8 microns the government decided not to inform the courts or the European authorities despite EU directives and French law stating that if a Member State has reason to believe a water does not comply it must immediately inform the commission The government is accused of entering into negotiations with the water giant But while the government did not inform authorities it did launch an investigation into water packaging plants in France A letter signed by Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire at Bercy and Ms Agnès Pannier-Runacher asked l’inspection générale des affaires sociales (Igas) to “assess the use of unauthorised treatments by manufacturers” reportedly seen by Le Monde and Radio France asked Igas to ascertain “what impact these treatments might have on the health quality of the water” Manufacturers were then questioned about the types of treatments used A total of 32 inspections were carried out which was submitted to the government in July 2022 claims that “almost 30% of commercial designations undergo non-compliant treatment” and that the percentage is “very probably higher" given “the difficulties for the inspection services in identifying deliberately concealed practices” The report also claimed that all Nestlé brands are affected including some in “serious breaches” of regulations including the alleged use of “activated carbon and ultraviolet treatments” The group is also accused of trying to hide these illegal treatments in the factories including hiding them behind electrical cabinets and using devices to deceive health inspectors about the source of the water Sources used by Nestlé are routinely contaminated with bacteria including E.Coli The Igas report stated that “these practices clearly do not comply with the public health code Nestlé Waters has announced a plan to return the situation to normal but it is not certain that the deterioration in the quality of the resource can be stopped” Nestlé Waters has claimed that its systems are now compliant In a statement to Radio France and FranceInfo it said: “Changes in climatic and environmental conditions with the multiplication of extreme events such as droughts and floods combined with the expansion of human activities around our sites make it very difficult to maintain the stability of the essential characteristics of natural mineral water.” It now states that it has “withdrawn” ultraviolet treatments and activated carbon filters from its factories and that the microfiltration systems it uses now are “compatible with the regulatory framework” further investigations by Le Monde and Radio France claim that this is not true and that a letter from national food safety agency Anses (l’Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l'alimentation de l'environnement et du travail) said this month (January 2024) that filters should never be used to treat water because of a “lack of quality” at the source The group also claims that it has now “suspended” certain sources and has begun “production of a new range of drinks based on water for human consumption" in Gard to take account of the "more sensitive nature of certain wells” This has led to questions about whether water from these brands is now safe especially if the company has suspended the filtration methods it had been using has stated that “the health safety of our products has always been guaranteed and remains our absolute priority” The Economy Ministry has also stated that “no health risk linked to the quality of bottled water has been identified at this stage” Le Monde and Radio France said that the Grand Est regional health agency (ARS) referred their claims to the Epinal public prosecutor An investigation into the alleged offences in Vosges was opened in November of the same year are accused of doing little to address the claims Nîmes public prosecutor Cécile Gensac told Radio France that she has “never heard of the slightest deception concerning the Perrier factory” the director of ARS Occitanie wrote to his teams that tap water should no longer be drunk because of pollution caused by eternal pollutants and pesticide by-products and that bottled water should be used as an alternative Radio France and Le Monde now claim that many so-called “natural” waters are little better than tap water Drinking water in towns near Lyon polluted above permitted levels 12 million people in France have drunk pesticide-contaminated water 99% of Brittany waterways found to have traces of pesticide Recent power cut in Spain and Portugal is warning to holidaymakers to ensure they are prepared for worst-case scenario The resort is set to remain open to the public and not only to professionals Japanese pastry chef Mori Yoshida creates refined cakes and desserts According to information obtained by Le Monde and Radio France the bottled water company (with brands such as Perrier etc.) has even attempted to use the investigation to avoid a Sénat inquiry commission into the water treatment fraud case By Stéphane Mandard Nestlé's bottling plant in Contrexéville (Vosges) JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN / AFP Nestlé is not quite finished with its judicial woes from the mineral water fraud case According to information obtained by Le Monde and Radio France the Paris judicial court's senior investigating judge opened a judicial investigation into "deception" at the end of December 2024 This followed on from a complaint against parties unknown linked to a plaintiffs' suit for "deception," which was filed with the court by the consumer protection association Foodwatch Nestlé said it "cannot comment on current legal proceedings," but added that it "intends to cooperate constructively with the judicial authorities." As revealed by Le Monde and Radio France one year ago for several years the world's number 1 bottled water company has resorted to prohibited treatment techniques – microfiltration – to handle bacterial or chemical contamination at its Perrier plant in the southern French town of Vergèze The revelations have since been acknowledged by Nestlé according to a report by the Occitanie regional health agency the situation at the Perrier site – where Nestlé had had to give up operating certain wells and to destroy 3 million bottles of water You have 73.94% of this article left to read Nestlé Waters – owner of the French mineral water brands Vittel and Perrier among others (1) – is the protagonist together with Sources Alma (Cristaline brand) of a gigantic fraud that brought illicit profits of over 3 billion of Euro The revelations by Le Monde and France Info and the subsequent news of the recall of two million bottles of Perrier water find a common thread in the judiciary's investigations (3,4) While FoodWatch requests the disclosure of brands Mineral Waters Directive 2009 / 54 / EC defines the purity requirements at the source of natural mineral water and spring water the obligation to bottle at the source and the labelling requirements Natural mineral water and spring water is pure by definition The only permitted treatments are therefore: – treatment with ozone-enriched air to separate some compounds (iron – absorption of fluorine via activated alumina (6,7) Water that does not meet the requirements mentioned can instead be classified as 'drinkable' in compliance with the requirements imposed by the Water Directive (EU) 2020/2184 to managers of public and private water networks An investigation report of the Directorate General for Competition Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) seen by the independent magazine Mediapart reveals that Nestlé Waters purchased UV equipment as early as 2005 and usedunauthorized filters since at least 2010' The expensive bottles of water bottled by Nestlé in the Vosges region - under the brands Vittel Contrex and Hépar - would therefore not be 'natural mineral water' but rather 'drinking water' as it is treated with infrared radiation and carbon filters Completing a fraud with an estimated value of over €3 billion ANSES – the French National Agency for Food Environmental and Work Health and Safety – has in turn declared that it is not able to exclude possible food safety risks and thus public health risks the recent recall of two million bottles of Perrier water due to contamination by pathogenic bacteria of faecal origin is worth mentioning Foodwatch– the liveliest consumer association in France and the European Union – underlines that the purpose of these treatments is to address' contamination from fecal substances coli bacteriaalready detected at the Perrier The organization is therefore calling for necessary clarifications from regulatory authorities.  when bottled water consumption is in full swing these large groups have every interest in keeping this scandalous affair hidden We want information about these products without delay where were they sold and how long have these illegal processes been in use How pure is the water taken from industry today who had access to the investigators' report presented to the public prosecutor following the Foodwatch complaint revealed that for decades Nestlé has been selling 'billions of bottles of water that had nothing to do with natural mineral water' 'This is the confirmation of what we suspected with our complaint: a massive fraud organized by the multinational The investigators even speak of a 'group strategy' and Nestlé's 'will' to deceive consumers We therefore ask that a judicial investigation be opened without delay we work together with you to continue to put pressure on Nestlé Waters and Sources Alma' is the largest food industrial group on the planet – €96,11 billion in sales in 188 countries (2023) with a solid presence in emerging economies (41% of turnover) – increasing operating margin (17,3%) and uninterrupted growth in returns to shareholders for 29 years (9,10) Finance drives the giant which has indeed focused - beverages leading the way (€25,6 billion in sales in 2023) with child labor and worker exploitation (11) – 'nutrition and health science' following with series B baby food for low- and middle-income countries (12) – ready meals and 'cooking aids'in fourth place which is under trial in France for its deadly pizzas (13) – milk-based products and ice cream(€11,4 billion) sweets (€8,4 billion) to consolidate the junk food ceiling (14) what ESG in a company where State Street Advisors Vanguard and Blackrock are among the top shareholders We invite all our readers join the Foodwatch's petition (1) The best-known Nestle Waters brands in the mineral water category in France are Vittel (2) Pascale Pascariello. Eaux en bouteille scandal: Nestlé fraud has reached more than 3 billion in 15 years. Mediapart. 18.7.24 https://tinyurl.com/p27askss (3) Stéphane Foucart. Revealed: France's bottled water plants widely used fraudulent purifying techniques. Le Monde. 30.1.24 https://tinyurl.com/yznwd83t (4) Nestlé destroys two million bottles of Perrier over bacterial contamination. Le Monde. 25.4.24 https://tinyurl.com/2v5ynkfu (5) Eaux en bouteille Cristaline, Perrier, Contrex, Vittel, etc.: this is the time to make the comptes! Foodwatch https://tinyurl.com/ypkch845 (6) Directive 2009/54/EC on the exploitation and marketing of natural mineral waters https://tinyurl.com/4r5pjxx5 (7) Regulation (EU) No 115/2010 laying down the conditions for use of activated alumina for the removal of fluoride from natural mineral waters and spring waters https://tinyurl.com/359bad5b (8) Maria Grazia Sangalli, Maria Ada Marzano, Dario Dongo. Water quality, the duties of managers of public and private facilities (9) Ramish Cheema. 25 Biggest Food Companies in the World by Revenue. Yahoo Finance. 30.5.24 https://tinyurl.com/2s5938z4 (10) Nestlé reports full-year results for 2023. Nestlé. 22.2.24 https://tinyurl.com/34rd9uma (11) Dario Dongo. Nespresso. B-Corp certification and human rights and environmental abuses (12) Marta Strinati. Nestlé, second-class baby food in disadvantaged countries (13) Marta Strinati. Pizza Fraîch'Up, the Nestlé Buitoni factory was a time bomb (14) Marta Strinati. Nestlé acknowledges that 60% of its products are unhealthy FeatureThe summer drought didn't spare the small French town of Vittel and Nestlé's pumping of its dwindling water table is angering many residents At his lovely house in the center of Vittel (northeastern France) Bernard Schmitt was planning a peaceful retirement: enjoying the garden That was before he spoke out against what he calls the "plundering" of water by the Swiss giant Nestlé At the home of this retired doctor who has become a spokesman for the environmental collective Eau 88 The trees and the vegetable garden are hard to make out but Nestlé is continuing to pump the water table without any restrictions while all other users have had to reduce their consumption," said Mr Nestlé extracts the equivalent consumption of a city of 40,000 inhabitants every day Just to produce drinking water in a plastic bottle..." It's a situation aggravated by repeated droughts and reduced snowfall in the winter something unimaginable has been happening in the Vosges area: In a region world-famous for its water July was the driest month since records began in 1959 This drought is cracking the ground and parching the crops the local authority warned that the department was facing a crisis of a magnitude "never before reached since alert levels were established" in 2011 watering and irrigating have followed one after another But to no avail: About 15 municipalities are facing drinking water shortages and have to be supplied by tanks several rivers were placed on heightened alert due to drops in their water levels You have 91.6% of this article left to read Become a member here We use cookies to improve your browsing experience Vittel serves as the host of today’s Tour de France stage roll-out But the little French spa town has a long history with the Tour that goes far deeper than parking for team buses is the finish for stage 4 and the start for stage 5 which attacks the Vosges mountains for the first of three mountain-top finishes in the 2017 Tour Vittel is better known as a brand of mineral water than as a resort with thermal baths which owns the brand and is a sponsoring partner of the Tour advertises the product as part of “an athlete’s essential hydration” and claims its calcium content promotes bone growth A man of republican ideals who had resigned an official post under King Louis-Philippe because of his anti-monarchist views he supported the losing candidate in France’s presidential election of 1848 further secured his power by a coup d’état in 1851 (beginning a period of dictatorship Karl Marx famously memorialised in “The Eighteenth Brumaire”) Bouloumié found himself seriously out of favour: first blacklisted then imprisoned and finally exiled for a year Daniel Martin treats himself to a cool-down after his stage victory and when he was permitted to return to France he sought cures for his kidney and liver problems with several stays in Vittel and the nearby town of Contrexéville A firm convert to the revitalising properties of “mineralised water” he bought the rights to the natural fountain of Gérémony and established it as the “grand source” of Vittel’s health-giving water No fewer than three of his descendants have served have been such enthusiastic fans of mineral water as Monsieur Bouloumié The most celebrated sceptic was Jacques Anquetil in a debate with a government minister on French TV said that only a fool would imagine a professional rider could finish the gruelling Bordeaux-Paris race on water alone Laurens Ten Dam enjoying some mineral content on Ventoux that he preferred champagne or Cognac — although this was certainly true when he was not actually in the saddle: Maître Jacques knew how to enjoy the finer things of life He meant that mineral water was for washing down amphetamine pills: speed The former American pro Tyler Hamilton would have to agree He started his career as a “pan y agua” rider — his term for a cyclist who competes clean The phrase has also given rise to the Spanish term “paniagua” meaning a servant of such low status that he works only for board and lodging was soon no longer content to be that kind of domestique to Lance Armstrong 23rd July 2014 – Tour de France 2014 – Stage 17 (ST GAUDENS to ST LARY) – Thibaut Pinot drinks from a bottle of water as he is helped away at the finsih of stage 17 – Photo: Offside / L’Equipe back in more innocent decades of the Tour de France when riders took care about what water they drank not because it had any performance-enhancing benefit (quite the reverse) but because you couldn’t trust the water from the tap in rural France When I was a kid on family holidays in France in the early 1970s to avoid getting a gippy tummy from drinking the mains version carbonated mineral water was still known generically as “Vichy water” for Vichy had a significant branding problem — being best-known as the seat of the collaborationist government of Nazi-occupied France during World War II Vincenzo Nibali washes away the mud after a gruelling stage There is a scene near the end of “Casablanca” in which Captain Renault (an unabashedly corrupt Vichy official in French Morocco played by Claude Rains) opens a bottle of Vichy water — the camera pauses on the label so that we don’t miss it — and pours himself a glass Rick (Humphrey Bogart) has just shot Major Strasser to prevent the Nazi officer from stopping the departure of the plane that Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) has boarded with Lazlo you’re not only a sentimentalist,” says Renault “but it seemed like a good time to start.”  “I think perhaps you’re right,” says Renault dropping the bottle of Vichy water in a bin Renault orders them to “round up the usual suspects” has decided to become a patriot — and give the boot to his Vichy masters Shop Rouleur’s carefully curated selection of bidons here the peloton’s drink of choice appeared first on The world's finest cycling magazine Rouleur takes a look at the contenders to win the Maglia Rosa in Italy this month Alexander Vinokourov's team are making the impossible rather quite possible All the essential information about the first Grand Tour of the year While the former Olympic and World champion is relishing new ventures in retirement she is keen to ensure more support is in place for those.. From SD Worx-Protime's continued success to Canyon-SRAM's disappointment Rouleur takes a look at how each squad performed at the Spring Classics Enjoy a digital subscription to Rouleur for just £4 per month and get access to our award-winning magazines Join today for exclusive content from independent journalists This site is protected by hCaptcha and the hCaptcha Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply Nestlé Waters, a division of the Swiss food giant which owns Perrier and Vittel, has admitted breaching French and EU regulations by using ultraviolet disinfection and ­activated carbon filtration to purify mineral water. Such treatments are allowed for tap water, which must be disinfected to be classed as drinkable, but banned for “natural mineral waters”, supposed to come from pure underground springs that require no sanitisation. Nestlé said it had since ceased the practices and that its waters “have always been safe to Registered in England No. 894646. Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, SE1 9GF. Mister Perfect Schloesser dropped both points over the last three ends of the 60-arrow qualification session and remains the only archer to have shot a perfect round in competition “This is probably the most points I’ve dropped in the last five competitions or so It has no effect on my confidence as the shots felt good I guess I was a little unlucky with the pin position – and although 600 would have been great I will take 598 for today,” said Mike.  “I still feel confident with my shooting and my equipment is also in order I shoot the same bow that I won Vegas with.” Sarah Prieels, Artem Makhnenko and and Tatiana Biltrikova were the other top seeded athletes in the senior divisions shot a perfect 30-arrow back half to jump into the lead and ultimately come within a point of the compound women’s world and European records “I lost too many points because of a few bad ends in the first 30 arrows and was pretty angry at myself Shooting 300 in the second half makes up for a lot,” she said “I hope it will give me a boost for the rest of the competition.” Among the recurve archers on the line was Athens 2004 Olympic Champion Marco Galiazzo. He seeded third, two points behind recurve men’s leader Makhnenko, from Russia, and Ukrainian archer Sergii Makarevych who finished second at the world indoors in 2016 “I am happy to be back on the international shooting line It is funny to see that I am one of the ‘old guys’ now There are a lot of young talents rising up which is good for the sport,” said Galiazzo “I will try to make the team for the world championships in Mexico later this year It will be a challenge but I am on track.” Top seeded archers in the junior divisions included Erdal Meric Dal, Tatiana Andreoli, Nico Wiener and Mariya Shkolna. The World Archery Europe Indoor Championships take place 5-12 March 2017 in Vittel, France. Monsieur Guy de la Motte-Bouloumié is sitting in his villa He has polite things to say about Swiss multinational Nestlé the Société générale des Eaux minerales de Vittel sold around the world under the Vittel brand has been in the company's hands ever since along with all the challenges that come along with the marketing of it In the times back when the Bouloumiés were in charge stop the drilling!" on hay bales on the road They didn't wear yellow vests to protest the elites and they didn't have the internet for putting together detailed protest pages People are feeling more anxious these days Monsieur de la Motte-Bouloumié is a relaxed man of 97 has coffee served on a silver tray He was the first person to sell mineral water in plastic bottles - he essentially invented the bottled water industry Some things were simpler back when Monsieur de la Motte-Bouloumié was the patron of the Société des Eaux People had the choice of accepting his decisions or not accepting them Nestlé doesn't seem to be the kind of company to have face "He does a very good job," says de la Motte-Bouloumié A man in heavy boots stomps around a frozen meadow in the foothills of the Vosges Mountains with a view of the pastures and hedges of wild plants He would rather talk about the kinds of things people in heavy boots like to talk about but he's mostly been discussing other things lately - stuff like the economy and ecology It has been almost a year since the outcry in Vittel first made its appearance in the headlines "Residents want to keep their water." And the regional daily Ouest France described a "Battle over water between locals and Nestlé." Not exactly positive headlines Vittel is a town in eastern France with hot springs and 5,000 inhabitants The town has become a microcosm for a global conflict over the ownership of water The water table from which Vittel's inhabitants obtain their own drinking water is sinking dramatically 830,000 cubic meters (219 million gallons) disappeared Nestlé was responsible for extracting 740,000 cubic meters of that water Nestlé is the world's largest food and beverage corporation Critics claim that Nestlé profits from the fact that some people are no longer able to access clean drinking water from their taps Some argue the company may even be causing that shortage only to turn around and sell its own brand of water to people in a plastic bottle The documentary film "Bottled Life," which came out seven years ago portrayed Nestlé as a company that steals water in countries including Nigeria and Pakistan Nestlé rejects these types of accusations on its home page which have been making the rounds for years A lot of the questions about the company's practices are directed at Christoph Klotz these days a Nestlé subsidiary specializing in water and source protection agriculture and tourism as a kind of "ecosystem" - "if you remove something from it it all comes apart." If Nestlé were to leave Vittel he warns that it could have "potentially dramatic consequences." Klotz says this "isn't blackmail the situation is this: About 200 meters (around 656 feet) beneath the ground sandstone layers that are millions of years old channel the groundwater that people are now fighting over That water is exported to Germany by Nestlé under the brand name Vittel The drinking water supplied to residents of Vittel comes from the same layers but these groundwater reserves are shrinking The water table has been going down for decades slightly tense lady sitting behind a desk in the departmental council in Épinal is familiar with Nestlé's reputation and Begel is a member of the departmental council as well as the chair of the local water commission (CLE) Begel has a problem to solve that is much bigger than her region It's one that is a fundamental question for humanity itself The United Nations says the right to water is a human right then how is it even possible for it to be treated as a normal commodity And who is to be allocated how much of the water below the ground in this corner of the Vosges there was enough for everyone to drink and the sources were full but that hasn't been the case for a long time now So much of the water is being pumped out that it can't be replenished quickly enough But here are the economics: Nestlé pays 14 million euros in mineral water tax to the department every year with about 4 million of that going into Vittel's budget The company is responsible for about 1,000 jobs in an area that has little beyond agriculture A majority of the commission voted in favor of a solution that would allow Nestlé to continue piping water from the area locals will get their water via pipeline from an area 15 kilometers to the east and Nestlé is to make a financial contribution to ensure that people's water costs don't rise Begel believes this would be a sensible solution were it not for the "associations," the environmental groups that are also on the water commission alongside government and business representatives and form a vocal minority She accuses them of trying to blow a local pragmatic decision entirely out of proportion that's what it's about," says Bernard Schmitt a retired doctor with the Oiseaux Nature (Birds of Nature) conservation organization who lives in a house with a bird-filled yard fill it into plastic bottles and then export it to Germany He sees Vittel as being part of an international battle A meeting with Nestlé opponents from Canada and Brazil is planned for mid-February The issues expected to be covered at the meeting include civil rights that the former head of the water commission shared the same name as a former Nestlé executive The organization Anticor got involved and the authorities are now investigating The public prosecutor's office in Nancy currently has jurisdiction over the investigation Was there inadmissible interference on plans affecting Nestlé and its water rights although it is the kind of thing that does sow distrust and doubts But it's exhausting to question everything and not to want to trust anything Possibly even asking the question about how it came to be in the first place that the water This development began in Vittel in the middle of the 19th century It was a time when the entrepreneur was becoming a role model the kind of person who sees the world primarily as a place for business acumen -- and the movement of goods And so it happened that the idea of the common good vanished like some distant it was a different kind of capitalism back then," says 74-year-old Jacqueline Verrier as she walks through the local history museum of Vittel that she created It's a one-stop museum dedicated to the history of capitalism and the Bouloumiés the family that has shaped the city for generations a lawyer from Occitanie plagued by kidney colic sought treatment in the neighboring spa town of Contrexéville He bought a swampy meadow with a spring from a farmer in Vittel in 1854 and created the "Cité thermale" in the area which had been home to a bit of agriculture and some lace-making An era of well-heeled people picked up by the hotel carriage at the station to care for their livers When the spa business seemed to be slowing The first Bouloumié filled the first bottle early on they had already created something resembling an assembly line inspired by the cooking oil company Lesieur Guy de la Motte-Bouloumié switched to plastic which led Nestlé to acquire a 30-percent stake in the company mineral water bottles rest like jewels in a shrine celebrating the Boulomié family's inventive spirit that inventive talent dominated not only in business a number of heads of the Bouloumié family also served as mayor of the town of Vittel When Nestlé acquired the remaining shares of the Société des Eaux in 1992 There was no longer a patron you could see walking around town and to whom you could write if you needed to find a traineeship for your child one would have to place in those museum showcases to keep telling Madame Verrier's version of the history of capitalism Because what a visitor to a Nestlé Waters bottling plant will see is a mechanical ballet of conveyor belts and highly developed structures that form fill and label the water bottles and pack them in containers before loading them onto pallets that are delivered by a driverless forklift to the freight car A poster hanging above the sink in the bathroom reads: "Water is life Don't waste it." You encounter managers and press spokespersons talking about responsibility and promising sparing use of plastic and water If you're looking for the real face of Nestlé you're not going to find it here in the factory although you might find it outside in the form of Christophe Klotz Klotz trudges through the rural parts of the Vosges Mountains He's an agronomist and biologist with an MBA in "sustainability," as he describes it He's here to make farmers happy -- at least the one he's visiting right now a dairy farmer in Dombrot-le-Sec near Vittel tells it like this: He was a farmer with 80 hectares (198 acres) of land And he doesn't have to pay anything for it picks up the dung and brings it back as compost Agrivair has installed a hay drying plant in his barn so that he can use hay for feed rather than corn Agrivair also planted the hedges in the fields Ladybugs were deployed for pest control and care is provided for bats they hope will eat unwanted insects because it requires considerable amounts of fertilizer He also has to use less fertilizer than permitted by law and keep fewer cattle Nestlé has 2,500 hectares of agricultural land that it makes available to farmers This allows Nestlé to protect not only the soil Some farmers in the area don't want to adhere to the rules Others would like to have biodynamic compost management He shows off a stream for which he is responsible Klotz lectures in the cold -- it's freezing but he's enthusiastic and offers his ideas on what a golf course ought to be like: "Full of biodiversity," he says install raptor poles to attract birds of prey to combat problems with mice on the golf course The people at Agrivair also take care of roadside greenery in order to ensure that no pesticides or poison are used Klotz's efforts can be viewed as an investment But what if the shareholders decide at some point that it's all too expensive What if they ask why they should be paying for landscapers to plant wild hedges Klotz says the company still allows him to get on with his job Good stories are all the more important when a company is trying to sell a product that doesn't look like much standing in the cold next to a stream that has to be kept so clean that you can drink from it "Greenwashing -- it pains me." The funny thing is that he says it in a way that's convincing he seems more like one of the people you would suspect of being one of Nestlé's opponents Does he feel like he compromised his integrity by taking a job at Nestlé seven years ago you can criticize and perhaps even prevent things." And by that he means on the outside with the environmentalists "You have people and a budget." People who can "do something right" on his command Is he the modern version of the family patron You'll see that democracy is alive and well here." A consultation publique is to be held at an event center in the neighboring town of Contrexéville the following Wednesday The public hearing has been convened by Begel of the water commission and her administration they would have simply done everything," says Bernard Schmitt who is trying to find out if this sentiment reflects the majority here Begel and Klotz also work the auditorium as they put feelers out for the evening and for the roughly 200 people who will be discussing the issues at 11 different tables The proposed solution with the pipeline is introduced -- and also the criticism of it the head of the group Vosges Nature Environment The most serious criticism lodged by the associations is that they consider the pipeline model to be reckless They expect nature to be severely affected in the extraction area The groundwater layer there isn't 200 meters deep like it is in Vittel If 500,000 cubic meters of water are extracted annually the water level would probably fall in the streams can the company even be planning with this water even before the possible effects of the extraction have been studied The article you are reading originally appeared in German in issue 7/2019 (February 9th It is no longer the era of the patrons and there is no Monsieur Bouloumié to carefully weigh what should happen The meeting is attended by environmentalists People who passionately delve into geological maps and people who see the whole thing first and foremost as political But also the positive story: that of Klotz and a company that is creating something good -- out of selfishness there will be more discussions between residents The word "jobs" has been used often enough He is even greeted warmly by some of the environmentalists In a report leaked to French media, the National Agency for Food Safety (Anses) said it had detected a virological risk from “transient microbiological contamination of faecal origin”, in springs used for bottled mineral waters in the eastern Vosges region and in the southern Gard department. Nestlé produces its brands Vittel, Contrex and Hépar in the Vosges region and Perrier water in the Gard. Anses also found a presence of PFAS, so-called eternal pollutants, coming from pesticides. The agency did not test Nestlé’s bottled water. The agency report from October was cited by France Info radio on Thursday, in which it Hépar Brands Break No China Rules After French Exposé (Yicai) Feb 6 -- The bottled mineral water sold by Nestlé Waters in China complies with Chinese laws and regulations its Swiss parent company told Yicai following a media report that Nestlé’s water products sourced in France violated that country’s regulations After self-inspection and rectification in 2021 all of Nestlé Waters’ products have complied with French regulations food and drinks giant Nestlé said yesterday 30 that compliance became easier after the owner of the Perrier and Contrex brands brought its use of activated carbon filters and ultraviolet systems in purifying water labeled as 'spring' and 'natural mineral' to the attention of the authorities as the French government “quietly eased regulations” in response it was illegal to use such purification techniques as water coming from natural springs is supposed to require no treatment unlike tap water but the report said that bottlers were using clandestine techniques due to sporadic contamination Chinese regulations are different as aeration and filtration -- methods used to eliminate unstable elements in natural mineral water -- are allowed but with stricter requirements for chemical indicators than those in France Except for high-end imported brands such as Perrier Vevey-based Nestlé sold its entire water business in China to Tsingtao Brewery Group in 2020 revenue from this business in the Chinese market is relatively low Nestlé’s imported high-end water business in China is comparably small and has a limited impact in the local market for natural mineral water deputy head of the Guangdong Food Safety Guarantee Association The probe comes after a government report found one in three mineral water brands in France undergoes purification treatment supposed to be used only on tap water The Nestle Waters Vosges' Vittel bottling plant sign in Vittel JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN / AFP French prosecutors said on Wednesday that they had opened an investigation into suspected fraudulent practices by the waters division of Swiss food giant Nestlé after it admitted treating water for its top French brands including Perrier and Vittel The investigation announced by prosecutors in the Epinal region of eastern France came after a government probe said almost one in three mineral water brands in France undergoes purification treatment supposed to be used only on tap water The investigation was ordered following a complaint by France's ARS health regulator prosecutor Frédéric Nahon told Agence-France Presse (AFP) in particular to establish whether the label 'natural' mineral water is misleading or not," he added Regional daily Vosges Matin said the investigation had been opened in January 2023 Nestlé Waters said this week it said it had passed some waters through ultraviolet light and active carbon filters "to guarantee food safety." Nestlé said it "lost track of the importance of conforming to regulations" but that all the brands concerned now fulfill French requirements French law based on a European Union directive bars disinfection of mineral water which is supposed to be of naturally high quality before bottling 08-Apr-2024 Last updated on 08-Apr-2024 at 09:09 GMT submitted to the government in October last year by French food agency ANSES was viewed by news media Le Monde and public service broadcaster Radio France According to the media outlets, the report confirms water sources used by Nestlé for its natural mineral water brands - including Perrier, Contrex, Vittel, and Hépar – were contaminated with bacteria, pesticides, and so-called forever chemicals PFAS Nestlé says all its French water products are safe to consume GettyImages/Jupiterimages (Jupiterimages/Getty Images)Bacteria cited include E both of which may indicate possible faecal waste contamination EU regulations on natural mineral waters specify these waters must be free of bacteria Intended for France’s Ministry of Health, the ANSES report raises concerns about the ‘health quality’ of these bottled water brands and recommends a ‘reinforced surveillance plan’, claim the journalists The leaked report follows accusations that Nestlé the largest bottled water company in the world had been selling bottled tap water as mineral water and using illegal treatment methods to do so According to Directive 2009/54/EC only a few treatment processes are permitted in the production and processing of natural mineral water in Europe Nestlé admitted to straying from the list by using ultraviolet treatments and activated carbon filters to maintain food safety The company is no longer using these two methods GettyImages/danielvfung (danielvfung/Getty Images/iStockphoto)Catch up here: Nestlé in hot water over Perrier and Vittel processing methods Earlier this year, consumer watchdog Foodwatch filed a lawsuit against Nestlé’s bottled water division as well as Sources Alma, whose brands include Cristaline and Sant Antonin. Now, given ANSES’ ‘insufficient level of confidence’ to ‘guarantee the health quality of finished products’, the watchdog is calling for the bottled water in question to be removed from shelves and that all importing countries be informed immediately. Foodwatch has also raised concerns that the French government was aware of the potential safety hazard, but did not inform consumers or the European Commission. “The lack of transparency is not only on the part of Nestlé Waters and Sources Alma, but also of the French authorities, and it raises several serious questions,” noted the watchdog. “Nestlé’s bottled waters must be recalled, and the other Member States of the EU must be informed now,” stressed Foodwatch information director Ingrid Kragl. “The European Water Directive is crystal clear: when mineral water is polluted, there is no doubt that bottling and marketing must be suspended.” Nestlé: All our French natural mineral waters are safe to drink According to journalists at Le Monde at Radio France, ANSES suggests the ministry implement a monitoring plan for Nestlé factories ‘considering the multiple findings of contamination of faecal origin’ and the ‘notable chronic presence of micropollutants’. Having not seen the ANSES report, Nestlé told us it is unable to comment on the specifics, but did confirm all its French natural mineral waters are safe to drink, and each brand’s unique mineral composition is as shown on the label. “Over the last three years, Nestlé Waters France has implemented a transformation plan at our sites in transparency with, and under the strict control of, the relevant authorities, sharing all data relating to our natural mineral waters,” a spokesperson told FoodNavigator. According to Nestle, its waters division in France: Nestlé in hot water over Perrier and Vittel processing methods01-Mar-2024By Flora SoutheyThe largest bottled water company in the world is being accused of selling bottled tap water as mineral water and using illegal treatment methods to do so. How Nestlé Waters plans to deliver water positive impact from 202529-Jun-2021By Flora SoutheyThe bottled water division of Nestlé says that from 2025 onwards, it will help nature retain more water than its business uses in its operations. FoodNavigator finds out what this means in practice. Discover our app for mobile phones and tablet All platforms to follow and listen to Mediapart is facing a mounting series of problems in the Vosges département or county in north-east France where it obtains its supplies for those mineral waters The French state has recently withdrawn its support for a lengthy water pipeline in the area while a local councillor with family links to the Swiss company faces trial over an alleged conflict of interests Now Mediapart has learnt that consumer and environmental groups are taking legal action against Nestlé for extracting water from certain boreholes without authorisation and have accused the authorities of favouring the giant corporation over the needs of local people Alexander Abdelilah and Robert Schmidt report Now Mediapart can reveal a fresh problem for the giant corporation with the news that consumer and environmental groups are taking legal action against it for extracting water from some boreholes without authorisation Suscribe now to Mediapart reports in English to get a selection of our latest contents François Fillon devait personnellement payer plus de 50 000 euros non remboursés par l’État Bruno Retailleau s’est démené auprès du parti Les Républicains et la dette de son ami a été épongée Le ministre de l’intérieur a présenté un nouveau texte il a vanté des mesures visant à promouvoir l’« assimilation » mais celles-ci n’ont en réalité rien de nouveau la CGT Cheminots et Sud Rail appellent conducteurs et contrôleurs à la grève pour dénoncer le manque de visibilité sur leur temps de travail Si les syndicats promettent une montée en puissance du mouvement la direction de la SNCF minimise sa portée et s’en prend aux grévistes Le président de la République veut accueillir les cerveaux américains Mais sa peinture de la France en paradis de la recherche et des libertés académiques ne passe pas Mandatory for the operationof the site or application highlighting of our services  these tools are necessary to track the activity of our services and their proper functioning Here are the various cookies and similar technologies included in this category : These tools allow us to collect statistics on site and mobile application traffic to understand usage detect possible problems and optimize the ergonomics of our products These are the third-party tools included in this category : But we do promote our content and services on other sites and social networks we use technologies made available by some advertising companies We use the Qiota service from Opper Marketing Suite to configure the activation of a datawall on certain content (available only on the website) requires the input of an email address to access the relevant content In accordance with the applicable regulations which they can exercise by contacting dpo@opper.io Essential digital access to quality FT journalism on any device Complete digital access to quality FT journalism with expert analysis from industry leaders Complete digital access to quality analysis and expert insights complemented with our award-winning Weekend Print edition Terms & Conditions apply Discover all the plans currently available in your country See why over a million readers pay to read the Financial Times The Tesla Model S Plaid is no stranger to the Nürburgring, one of the most famous and difficult race tracks in the world. Over the years Tesla has brought out several iterations of the Model S Plaid to Germany in an attempt to set an EV lap record Now the first privately owned Model S Plaid has hit the Nürburgring and it was driven by none other than Sebastian Vittel For those unaware Vittel is a racecar driver that has joined forces with Tesla before but this time he took his own Model S Plaid to the shortened Nordschleife or North Loop of the track that measures 20.8km (12.9 miles) in length According to the video description the electric sedan was at 95% state of charge at the start of the lap and configured through Track Mode to have traction control turned off instead having 50% front and 50% rear traction set with 60% brake regeneration The car was outfitted with the stock Michelin PS4 tires. The only upgrade was to the brakes with upgraded pads, discs, and brake fluid. Vittel said this brake setup was similar to Tesla’s Carbon Ceramic Brake Kit, which he recently got to test out in Belgium and that he had no brake problems during his 10 laps around the track Vittel was just as impressed with it at the Nürburgring as he was with it in Belgium calling it “amazing” and saying that it felt “easy well balanced and safe” with “crazy potential,” even though the track was a little wet in sections and dirty from a race the day before and the outside temperature was only 8°C The video backs those claims up with Vittel effortless making his way around the nearly 21km track passing modified cars with ease like they are standing still and reaching speeds as high as 240km/h (149mph) Tesla Autopilot Not Active During Fatal Newport Beach Crash in 2022 Vote to turn this Lego Tesla Showroom and Supercharger station into reality Founder and Editor-in-chief of Drive Tesla Canada | Darryn@DriveTeslaCanada.ca Tesla’s Giga Berlin is set to undergo some changes in its operations as the automaker confirmed on Thursday it will be hiring fewer temporary workers and eliminating Saturday shifts as the plant exits out of […] California is probably wishing he was paying a little more attention while behind the wheel of his Tesla Model S yesterday An Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) SUV […] The BC Civil Resolution Tribunal has ordered ICBC to pay Andre Rink $2,700 over damages related to a hit-and-run on his Tesla According to the decision Rink’s Tesla was involved in an incident in a […] Enter your email address to subscribe to Drive Tesla and receive notifications of new articles by email Most bottled water sold in France contains microplastics according to a study published on Thursday by an environmental group An investigation by Agir pour l’environnement (Acting for the Environment) found particles of microplastics in nine brands of bottled water: Evian Laboratory tests of these bottles found polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate plastic via the cap and the bottle The additives in the material of the plastic bottle also contribute to the microplastics The study found that 78% of the test sample contained microplastics The most microplastics per liter -- ranging from 1 to 121 microparticles -- were found in the bottles of Vittel Kids 330 mL (11.2 fluid ounces) bottle Microplastics in bottled water cannot be banned or regulated as there is no common detection standard Agir requested the government to ban plastic water bottles by 2027 enforce transparency standards on manufacturers to reveal the composition of the plastic bottle and provide safer alternatives to plastic varying from 5 millimeters in size to particles 70 times smaller France is the sixth largest consumer of bottled water in Europe consuming 133 liters of bottled water per capita a year Jabil Packaging Solutions unveiled a new sustainable hybrid bottle for the bottled water brand Vittel in an effort to massively reduce plastic and instead use elements like 100% recyclable components along with a snap-apart design that will help in recycling sorting U.S.-based manufacturing services company Jabil Packaging Solutions launched its latest packaging prototype—an Eco bottle product platform for Nestlé’s French mineral water brand Vittel which designs bottles from recycled cardboard and newspaper the bottle’s design can be easily scalable and uses 80% recycled paper and 20% recycled plastic (cap included) collected from high-volume waste sources thus reducing over 50% plastic compared to Vittel’s original 1-liter bottle the bottle has a patent-pending tear strip facilitating the separation of paper and plastic making it easier to recycle “True innovation in sustainable packaging requires a holistic view of the product that goes beyond aesthetics material selection and design features,” senior business unit director of Jabil and founder of Ecologic Brands Julie Corbett said in a statement shared with Green Queen “Our goal is to innovate around the entire life cycle of the bottle That’s why the Eco.bottle product platform is engineered to drive plastic reduction improve carbon footprint and optimize the consumer recycling experience.” The hybrid bottle’s two-shell system is enabled by interlocking paper tabs that can be nested during transit and warehousing thus reducing the extra space in the supply chain with a possibility of even lessening the delivery trucks by 50-60% Our goal is to innovate around the entire life cycle of the bottle improve carbon footprint and optimize the consumer recycling experience and with Vittel’s know-how of mineral water bottling and Jabil’s knowledge about conversion tech the duo created what it claims as the thinnest 1-liter plastic liner in the market using just 9.2g of recycled plastic and a functional outer shell developed out of certified Forest Stewardship Council recycled material Senior vice president of Jabil and CEO of Jabil Packaging Solutions Jason Paladino said that CPG companies need to do more than just saying they’ve reduced their waste “They now also need compelling solutions for repurposing that waste Jabil’s Box-to-Bottle manufacturing platform allows us to take our customers’ waste and incorporate it into our manufacturing process within our facilities in Manteca This fully accountable and traceable manufacturing platform provides forward-thinking brands like Vittel with unparalleled visibility into the circularity of their products.” Consumer testing will begin this month and the bottle will be showcased to the press during the scheduled Tour de France Read: Bottle-Fed Babies Ingesting ‘Millions’ Of Microplastics Every Day, New Study Finds Nestlé has worked on a GO system for Vittel that is made of a reusable hard protective case designed to carry 50cl refills of the brand’s natural mineral water containing 40% less plastic than its traditionally made 50cl bottle developed from natural oils of plant seeds like palm canola and soy; and even Indian Himalayan town Lachen in Sikkim launched reusable bamboo water bottles which tourists can use in an effort to reduce the country’s massive plastic waste crisis Read: Hong Kong’s Plastic Bottle Bill Looks Set For Failure, Here Are 8 Reasons Why Founded by serial entrepreneur Sonalie Figueiras in 2011 Green Queen is a multi-channel digital news platform and a trusted global impact media brand Our award-winning reporting reaches millions of readers globally Green Queen is the world’s leading food and climate media with a focus on future food innovation and food system decarbonization one of the most important consumer products and investment opportunities of our time Our coverage includes breaking news and product launches and exclusive interviews with entrepreneurs and key ecosystem players from every continent Green Queen is an editorially-driven media publication Over 98% of our content is editorial and independent Paid posts are clearly marked as such: look for 'This is a Green Queen Partner Post' at the bottom of the page Four brands of bottled water from the Nestlé Waters group in France do not conform to health quality regulations a new report from food and health agency Anses has shown An inquiry from FranceInfo and newspaper Le Monde looked into a confidential Anses report alongside a similar review of the report by the regional health agencies (Agences Régionales de Santé ARS) of Grand Est and Occitanie (regions in which Nestlé Waters has bottling plants) The group found that the water contamination is widespread and includes the presence of bacteria as well as ‘forever chemical’ pollutants above permitted levels and Contrex is in Vosges; while the Perrier site is in Gard.  Nestlé also produces water under the brands San Pellegrino and Nestlé Pure Life but Anses did not respond to requests from BFMTV’s RMC Conso on whether these brands are affected Read more: Perrier, Vittel: French brands ‘illegally filtered contaminated water’ called on Anses to investigate water produced by Nestlé in the region Mr Jaffre wrote a letter reporting on the alleged "presence of prohibited treatments" at the plant "regular contamination of the raw water from at least five of the seven boreholes" and "the presence of micropollutants".  The Nancy hydrology laboratory then carried out checks on Anses’ behalf But the ARS later claimed that the report submitted by Anses to the Ministry of Health in October was "incomplete and fragmentary" and that it was not able to “guarantee the sanitary quality of finished products” (bottled waters by Nestlé) It said that Anses had discovered "various regular microbiological contaminants" The report also found evidence of ‘forever chemicals (per- and polyfluoroalkyls PFAS)’ and pesticide traces at levels above permitted thresholds but sometimes exceed 0.1 micrograms per litre for some boreholes," Le Monde newspaper highlighted from the report Nestlé has now been advised to implement a stronger monitoring plan in all of its factories and change spring sources in the case of contaminated boreholes It comes just over a month after the French food safety NGO Foodwatch launched a legal case to the Paris judicial court against Nestlé after the food giant admitted to having illegally treated mineral water sold under the same four brands: Perrier Read more: Watchdog takes action over banned treatment of French mineral water Nestlé Waters admitted that it had used banned water filtration methods including ultraviolet cleaning and activated charcoal treatments Foodwatch accused the company of nine breaches of the European directive on mineral water as well as breaches to the French public health and consumption codes le Code de la consommation and le Code de la santé publique The Sources Alma group was also accused of these practices These treatments present no risk to health but the European Union bans their use on water that is sold as ‘natural mineral water’ Public health code le Code de la santé publique mentions three types of bottled water:  Natural mineral water is intended to be pure already so it should not require purification.  Columnist Sue Adams gives her tips on how to get the best out of the long season in France Household favourites including courgettes and strawberries become commonplace this month Sometimes all those riches and spoils eventually dry up and you find yourself in desperate need of fast cash Perhaps maybe greed has overtaken your soul and any means by which additional income can be scrounged up begins to take hold you believe so passionately in a product that you just have to get on TV and tell the whole world what they’re missing out on None of these scenarios seems to fit David Bowie in 2003 which is when the legendary singer appeared in an ad for Vittel Water that referenced his ever-changing personas or particularly cared about shilling bottled water which makes the advert even more confusing The spot itself is unremarkable: Bowie doesn’t even say a word he walks around an apartment while running into various guises from his past his brief pirate persona during the ‘Rebel Rebel’ era his long-haired Man Who Sold The World look and his expressive central mime character from the ‘Ashes to Ashes’ video Bowie comes face to face with the half-man half-dog version of himself that graced the front cover of Diamond Dogs Who did you owe a favour to at the Vittel company How did the man who was famous for being reductive when it came to his past wind up in such a basic self-referential mess of an advertisement Some questions and answers are simply lost to time In the pantheon of bizarre celebrity endorsements, Bowie’s hawing of Vittel ranks somewhere between John Lydon’s ‘Country Life’ butter advert and Iggy Pop’s Swiftcover car insurance commercial The Swiss food company Nestlé has admitted to using illegal treatment methods for mineral water and the events surrounding this scandal are spreading Nestlé Waters admitted to using banned activated carbon filters and ultraviolet light in its French brands Perrier Hépar and Contrex following media revelations But now the already-unpleasant affair is escalating. The illegal behavior was also used in Switzerland, as the French-speaking Swiss newspaper “Le Temps” discovered to which the food giant immediately confirmed Under the supervision of the cantonal and federal authorities Nestlé Waters Switzerland had removed the activated carbon filters in its factory in Henniez VD by the end of 2022 ultraviolet systems were never used in the factory in Henniez Why the Swiss authorities did not inform the public now remains to be clarified Nestlé excused its actions by saying that ‘nature provides different qualities’ and that the company wanted to ensure food safety But natural mineral water has to be ‘natural’ – as the term suggests these unauthorized protective measures at the Vaud factory have been discontinued as of the end of 2022 Nestlé had already announced on Monday in France that it had informed the French authorities in 2021 that it had used prohibited treatments with ultraviolet light and activated carbon filters for some of its mineral water products production has been fully compliant with the law But credibility is completely at stake here because who will tell customers that Nestlé has not used such illegal practices elsewhere for products such as KitKat, Nesquik, Nespresso or even in baby food It would certainly have been a thousand times better for Nestlé to have disclosed the problems to the public itself than to have flushed them down the drain inquisitive journalists had to find out first Now the company is on the run after those events Honest investigation that restores credibility This should be a warning to other companies Copyright © 2025 muula.ch IDN-InDepthNews Photo source: Countercurrents.org - Photo: 2020 Brazil (IDN) – On November 14 the Canadian group Wellington Water Watchers organized the «All Eyes on Nestlé» conference in the city of Guelph bringing together indigenous’ peoples and citizens’ movements fighting Nestlé’s water takings from Canada the representatives of the organizations involved met for a workshop to exchange information and discuss possible common strategies of resistance to this giant corporation water grabbing From the experiences and stories shared by groups as different as the Collectif Eau 88 – from the city of Vittel Canada – or the Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation – from the U.S – it became clear that there is a common pattern in all these places where Nestlé takes water for its bottling facilities contrary to this company’s claim that any problem  is always just a local issue that the amounts of water taken – for which Nestlé pays close to nothing – usually causes groundwater levels to sink affects ecosystems and endangers the water supply of the local citizens Nestlé and the community take water from the same aquifer and French state institutions recognized that this situation put at risk the aquifer since the water takings went faster than its natural replenishing The solution proposed by the French authorities To build a pipeline of about 14 km to bring water from another place for the inhabitants of Vittel so that Nestlé could continue undisturbed its business pumping the groundwater from Vittel!! Thanks to the resistance of the Collectif Eau 88 the pipeline project was politically defeated and another solution has to be found to protect the aquifer But if it were not for this citizens’ movement the pipeline project would have been built with taxpayers money Nestlé Waters Canada has permission to extract 4,7 million litres of water a day in wells at Hillsburgh and Aberfoyle and according to Mike Balkwill from Wellington Water Watchers “the company has applied to renew those permits while it extracts water without the consent of Six Nations and despite public opposition from several indigenous organizations” thanks to the resistance of both Six Nations and other citizens’ movements the moratorium on water permits that would end on next January 1 was recently extended by the authorities to October 2020 The situation is the same in Florida where although the local water authority considers that the water system is in recovery from overexploitation Nestlé still wants to pump water from Ginnie Springs The common pattern emerging from these and other cases – in the State of Michigan or in the small city of São Lourenço in Brazil – also shows that it is always local groups that defend water not the State’s water or environmental authorities another pattern that repeats itself in most of the cases governments very often side with the corporation against the citizens in many places Nestlé “merges” with the local authorities as in Maine where a Nestlé manager was on the State’s environmental protection agency board or in Vittel where a deputy mayor was sued for a conflict of interest concerning the pipeline project: this deputy was married to a Nestlé executive from Vittel president of an association that had been chosen to bring the Water Development and Management Project to the Local Water Commission that Mrs Pruvost chaired The trial was delayed because the case had to be moved from the court in the city of Epinal – the closest to Vittel – to the city of Nancy because the vice-president of the court in Epinal was also married to the Director of Nestlé Waters in Vittel Nestlé always tries to establish alliances or partnerships with Governments to protect itself and its bottling operations where its image has to be more carefully protected was appointed Vice-Director of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation – SDC the Swiss Government Agency responsible for Development Aid programmes – where he will be responsible for SDC’s Global WATER program The ecological damage caused by Nestlé’s water takings and bottling facilities are not locally limited either PET water bottles are one of the main sources of plastic waste worldwide One single example suffices to give an idea of the contribution of Nestléto this problem: according to Wellington Water Watchers if the Government  approves Nestlé’s permits to take water from commercial bottling in Wellington County the company will produce more than 3 billion 500 ml of plastic bottles per year – laid end-to-end that number would circle the earth 16 times And this amount of plastic comes just from two sites in Wellington County Nestlé has dozens of such bottling facilities all over the world using huge amounts of fossil fuels to produce more billions of plastic bottles If we add to that all the fuel consumed to transport all these bottles – mainly by truck – we can also see the significant impact of Nestlé on climate change Such patterns are intrinsic to Nestlé’s bottling operations worldwide and to the economic and political power of this giant multinational corporation or France are among  the wealthiest and  most traditional democratic societies in our planet and still their citizens have to fight very hard and for very long just to achieve some minimum  level of protection of ground and surface waters ecosystems and for their access to water in the future – things that in a democracy we would take for granted as an obligation of the State But if Nestlé can manage to have governments on its side and against the citizens even in such traditional democracies as the U.S. what then may happen to communities facing Nestlé’s water grabbing in much less democratic and much more vulnerable societies in Africa multinational corporations became the main source of economic and political power Sweezy in their classic work “Monopoly Capital”: “Votes are the nominal source of political power and money is the real source: the system is democratic in form and plutocratic in content.(…) Suffice it to say that all the political activities and functions which may be said to constitute the essential characteristics of the system – indoctrinating and propagandazing the voting public organizing and maintaining political parties running electoral campaigns – can be carried out only by means of money And since in monopoly capitalism the big corporations are the source of big money they are also the main source of political power.” some transnational corporations have profits bigger than the GNP of the large majority of the countries in the world One example may give a better view of the economic power of such corporations as compared to other international institutions: in 2017 Nestlé spent 7.2 billion US dollars on global advertising efforts The World Health Organization proposed budget for 2016-2017 was US$4.384.9 million It is important to understand as well that the modern transnational corporation is also the ‘natural’ successor of the old colonial powers with the  difference that while the old colonial powers concentrated in exploiting the global south their contemporary heirs are able to exploit the global NORTH as well when the resources they need are located there as Paul Sweezy explained in this quote from “Modern Capitalism and Other Essays”: “(…) there is no reason to suppose that a corporation would willingly exempt foreign markets and sources of supply from its planning horizon just because they happen to be outside a particular set of national boundaries.” trying to protect their water resources from Nestlé are fighting the same battles that communities in the global south always had to fight in order to protect their own resources from colonial grabbing The old colonial powers used local oligarchies submissive to their politics and economic views as rulers in their colonies which became the “governance model” in most of the global south this model has been exported to the global north where transnational corporations are gradually taking over the democratic space and the political power turning many places in the north into mirror images of colonised communities in the global south governments in the south as in the north become willing servants of the corporate sector making sure that despite environmental and social damage the corporations get access to the resources they need But this fact creates an important new opening for communication understanding and common action between citizens’ groups fighting water privatization in the global north and in the global south is the same: to keep water in public hands under democratic control And to fight for water is also to fight for our endangered democracies under the authoritarian threat of corporate control A new alliance between south and north can emerge that will be a powerful movement challenging the corporate sector and its servants has already a long and successful history of fighting civil society In the 1970s an international boycott was launched against Nestlé due to its practices of promoting bottle feeding and discouraging breast feeding causing infant illness and death in southern poorer countries known at the time as “Nestlé kills babies” had an unprecedented impact on the company To fight this campaign Nestlé hired Raphael Pagan Reagan and Bush on Third World Policies – which means on how to fight back Third World Liberation movements President who gave support to General Pinochet coup d’état against elected President Salvador Allende in Chile throwing this country in a murderous military dictatorship that lasted for years Pagan received a Life Achievement Award from President Reagan – the U.S President waging war against the Nicaraguan Sandinista Government killing and terrorizing thousands of people in Central America Raphael Pagan was very effective in fighting back the international boycott against Nestlé mainly by designing a strategy to divide the civil society groups organizing the campaign This partnership with military intelligence to fight civil society organizations was so successful that Nestlé went deeper in this collaboration an ex-MI6 agent – British military intelligence – as Head of Security Hedley was responsible for organizing an operation to spy civil society groups critical to Nestlé in Switzerland When this operation was unveiled by a Swiss investigative journalist that denounced it in the Swiss TV Nestlé had to face a court case and was condemned by the Swiss justice for it The main panel discussion at this event was with Nestlé’s CEO Peter Brabeck and the President and CEO of The Atlantic Council Frederick Kempe ‘Creating Shared Value in Latin America: Opportunities Obstacles and Future Directions in Nutrition I guess that what the panel called ‘obstacles’ was – and still is – civil society movements trying to keep their natural resources – including water – in public hands When challenged with this kind of resistance from society corporations like Nestlé may find it very useful to have NATO at their side to help “convincing” rebel governments to give away their natural resources for the corporate sector profit – not for the development of the country Nestlé also has a special program to hire ex-US military men and women – https://www.nestleusacareers.com/military/ and https://www.nestleusa.com/about-us/project-opportunity-career-acceleration-initiative  – Maybe just to keep the close links with the U.S there is no Nestlé special program to hire ex-Swiss or ex-French military people These examples suffice to show that Nestlé has a leadership position  in imposing corporate control  over democratic institutions in order to have access to natural resources like water The examples also show that Nestlé is far ahead in developing strategies and partnerships to fight back civil society resistance can we hope to protect our waters from corporate grabbing and our democracies from corporate control * Franklin Frederick is a Brazilian writer and political activist. This article first appeared on Defend Democracy Press on 22 December 2019 and was carried by COUNTERCURRENTS.ORG on 10 January 2020 The views expressed in this article are those of the writer and necessarily of IDN-INPS IDN is flagship agency of the International Press Syndicate facebook.com/IDN.GoingDeeper – twitter.com/InDepthNews reports and viewpoints that impact the world and its peoples Its network spans countries around the world © 2009-2025 IDN-InDepthNews | Analysis That Matters Terms of Use | Imprint | Privacy Policy Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search It has now been confirmed the $27,500 CAD/$20,000 USD upgrade does unlock the Model S Plaid’s top speed, according to test driver Sebastian Vittel (not Vettel) but according to Vittel it can go even higher Vittel got to try out a Model S Plaid with Carbon Ceramic Brakes thanks to the team at Tesla Belgium who recently brought him to the Circuit de Bresse in France According to Vittel the electric sedan is a “completely different animal” and “an absolute beast” with the new brake kit which includes larger front and rear carbon ceramic discs the software is also unlocked and Vittel says he was able to reach a top speed 217mph (350km/h) A video of the top speed will be released soon While the Carbon Ceramic Brake Kit is still not available for purchase, the wait shouldn’t be much longer. The product listing says it will be available in early 2023 and just last week Tesla began emailing customers to let them know it was coming soon Tesla begins shipping Midnight Cherry Red Model Ys from Giga Berlin to showrooms Tesla Q4 2022 Vehicle Safety Report – one crash for every 4.85 million miles with Autopilot engaged Tesla’s price cuts earlier this month made the Model 3 and Model Y eligible for incentives in Canada and the US Now Tesla has confirmed the price cuts across Europe have had the same effect […] the Chinese-origin company insists it will start producing and delivering its FF91 EV before 2022 ends Volkswagen has announced it plans to increase its investment into electric vehicles (EVs) by spending an additional $193 billion over the next five years The investment will be in areas such as battery cell production By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Bottled water brand VITTEL teams up with New Balance this season on a Japanese promotional campaign sales of 500 ml VITTEL bottles (vending machines not inclusive) will include a mini-shoe key-chain featuring two iconic NB models basic colors while the 996 features some bold neon versions