A new report released today by the Polaris Institute discusses the current state of federal bottled water regulations in Canada and calls it inadequate.
The report, entitled Murky Waters: The urgent need for health and environmental regulations of the bottled water industry, claims that since 2000, there have been 29 recalls of 49 bottled water products in Canada (obtained through Access to Information by the Polaris Institute).
The report also claims that bottled water plants are inspected on average once every three years, while tap water is regulated and inspected multiple times daily, and that the current mandatory labeling of bottled water products does not sufficiently address a number of health concerns related to content, storage and expiry dates.
Look for a new column about the bottled water industry in the upcoming May/June issue of CWT.