EC’s amended rulings on bottled water claims – it keeps one cool and healthy

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDNov 24 2011

Last week after Brussels bureaucrats announced that bottled water does not prevent dehydration and manufacturers cannot claim so in their labels and advertisements, they were met with ridicules and derision.

But now it has emerged that manufacturers could be allowed to make virtually identical statements after scientists accepted that water does in fact help with hydration. Nutrition experts till point out that water is not proven to actively prevent the body from becoming dehydrated, they conceded that it does help regulate body temperature and maintain the body's physical and mental functions.

The same panel of scientists whose refusal to approve the claims about dehydration informed the EC's decision to reject them has approved two further statements that, to most consumers, would amount to the same thing.

The earlier ruling, announced after a conference of 21 EU-appointed scientists in Parma and which means that bottled water companies cannot claim their product stops people’s bodies drying out, was given final approval last week by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

The European Food Standards Authority (EFSA) recommended to the EC there was sufficient evidence to state that “Water contributes to the maintenance of normal physical and cognitive functions” and “Water contributes to the maintenance of normal thermoregulation” on bottles. The approval from the EFSA is expected to lead to a nod from the EC which will allow companies to make both claims on their packaging in future.

Roger Helmer, the Conservative MEP who spoke out against the original decision, said, “This shows not only the folly with regards to the claim but the degree of intrusiveness which the commission thinks it should exercise with commercial processes. We have got half a billion people in Europe, if each product we eat and drink has to be passed by the commission first then that is just extraordinary.”

A spokesman for the British Soft Drinks Association said, “The rejection published last week was founded on a technicality in one particular application, not on the underlying science. But claims have been approved outlining that drinking water is good for normal physical and cognitive functions and for normal thermoregulation [temperature control]. We await final confirmation from the European Commission on this, which is expected soon.”

NHS website guidelines state that, “Dehydration is usually caused by not drinking enough fluid” and recommend that Britons drink at least 1.2 liters of water per day.