February 24th, 2010The FDA, Bottled Water and You.
You may be surprised to learn that in the United States bottled water is required to follow a strict set of guidelines, both on the state and federal levels, and is regulated with nearly the same strictness as alcoholic beverages. For a business to be able to sell bottled water in the U.S.A they must first meet the standards of both the FDA and EPA, after that they also need to meet the standards of individual states and they must prove on a regular basis that their product is keeping with these standards. Even the packaging of bottled water and the labels need to be approved by state regulators before the product can even hit store shelves.
“Bottle bills” have been instituted in several states which necessitates that additional information be added to the labels before the water can be sold. Manufacturers or first distributors of a product that offers a refund must first deposit the return amount in a state fund that is tapped when the consumer returns the bottles. Each label specifies the state by its abbreviation and the refund amount that will be received in that state when the bottle is returned.
Even congress has had lengthy hearings on the regulations of bottled water. After a few studies on bottled water purity were released an committee was formed that sent letters to 13 different manufacturers requesting that they divulge the source of their water and their testing procedures. Congress received a 32-page report from the Environmental Working Group that three details should be made public by every manufacturer of bottled water. Those would be the source of the water, the procedures by which it is purified, and the presence of any chemicals that may remain after the purification treatment. There are only two bottled water manufacturers that complied completely with the Environmental Working Groups suggestions.
Given this political pressure, it is likely that the FDA will issue more warning letters concerning these issues that will result in more complex labeling requirements over time. The FDA already regulates these three aspects to some extent.
The bottled water business is booming in the United States, this water is readily accessible and the purification procedures are simple enough, the retail value is staggeringly high and it seems most people enjoy drinking purified bottled water on a daily basis. The strict regulations on bottled water may seem like an insurmountable web of red tape but once a manufacturer has satisfied them the only factors in their success are the taste of the water and how effective their marketing is.
FDAImports.com was founded by Benjamin L. England, Esq., a former FDA professional with 20 years of direct FDA experience, 17 years of which were obtained inside FDA. Mr. England is now a privately practicing FDA lawyer managing food, drug, medical device, cosmetic, and electronic product regulatory compliance, international trade and customs law. FDAImports.com specializes in making the complex understandable.