The Standard - Watchdog warns public of 'tainted' bottled water

By Timothy Chui

Pregnant mothers, children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems have been advised to avoid eight brands of bottled mineral water which have been found to contain a host of microorganisms.

The warning was issued yesterday by the Consumer Council, which found levels of heterotrophic plate count - a measurement of microorganisms including bacteria and fungi - varied from two colony forming units per milliliter to 550 cfu/ml in eight out of 40 brands tested.

According to the latest issue of the consumer watchdog's Choice Magazine, Fiji natural artesian water had the highest HPC count at 550 cfu/ml, followed by First Choice (natural mineral) with 300 cfu/ml.

TY NANT was next at 160 cfu/ml followed by First Choice (French spring) at 120 cfu/ml, Pierval at 58 cfu/ml and Contrex with 38 cfu/ml.

Both Evian and Vittel mineral waters came up with 2 cfu/ml.

However, the World Heath Organization has no HPC limit for drinking water, which it said in a report is more valuable as an indicator of treatment and disinfection at the bottling stage rather than an indicator for pathogen levels.

The WHO report also said HPC levels were "unsuitable for public heath target setting or as sole justification for issuing boil water advisories."

However, Consumer Council publicity and community relations chairman Ambrose Ho Pui-him said doctors have suggested it will be better for young children, pregnant women and elderly people with weak immune systems to boil their natural mineral water.

Hong Kong University assistant professor of environmental engineering Zhang Tong backed the council claim, saying the 500 cfu/ml threshhold has been adopted by many developed nations.

Taiwan limits HPC for bottled water at 200 cfu/ml while the European Union has a 100 cfu/ml limit for bottles incubated at 22 degrees Celsius for 72 hours.

Zhang said the main factor affecting HPC levels is the length of time the water has been stored.

The council's study also revealed Perrier contained 0.4 milligrams per liter of nitrite, four times higher than the WHO's acceptable daily intake.

An adult weighing 60kg would have to drink more than 10 liters of the sample per day to exceed the daily intake of nitrite. People who ingest too much nitrite may suffer from dizziness and have difficulty breathing.

Vincent Wan, chairman of Wan Corporate Services, the sole distributor of Perrier in Hong Kong, insisted the health risk is practically non-existent.

He said French tests showed nitrite levels at 0.05mg/L, which he expected to be confirmed with more tests in Hong Kong and France.

Wan said the company is in contact with the council and assured consumers the health risk is practically non-existent.

According to the Centre for Food Safety, there is no specific legislation in Hong Kong on nitrite levels in bottled waters.
 

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