The E. coli bacteria has just forced Perrier to get down on one knee. A subsidiary of Nestlé, the sparkling water brand had to destroy two million bottles “as a precaution” after the discovery of bacteria.
The prefect of Gard also gave notice to the company to “immediately suspend” the operation of one of its water catchments on the site producing Perrier, in Vergèze, in a decree dated April 19. It is indicated there that this catchment “presented an episode of contamination from March 10, 2024 and over several days by germs witnessing contamination of fecal origin”.
“No consequences” on employment
In the decree, it is also underlined “that contamination of packaged water (finished products) from this drilling (…) cannot be excluded (…) and may pose a risk to the health of consumers”.
To date “there are no consequences on activity or employment according to our management”, declared Olivier Almeras, CGT representative of the Vergèze source.
The bottles available on the market “can be consumed in complete safety,” the management of Nestlé Waters France assured on Wednesday. The subsidiary of the world leader in the agri-food industry mainly confined itself to mentioning a “punctual microbiological deviation” which appeared following “very heavy rains linked to a recent Mediterranean-type event in the Gard”. Storm Monica hit the south-east of France during the weekend of March 10.
According to the prefectural decree, the exploitation of the well concerned can only resume by fulfilling a series of conditions, in particular the search and “removal” of sources of contamination.
A reputation already damaged at the start of the year
The setbacks have therefore been piling up for several months for Perrier. This contamination is in fact a new dent in the reputation of the bottled water producer, who publicly admitted, at the beginning of the year, to having resorted in France and Switzerland to prohibited treatments on mineral water, to guarantee safe consumption. And concerning the Vergèze site, a letter from the Occitanie regional health agency dated June 2023 noted that the operator was faced with “regular bacteriological contamination (…) particularly after rainy episodes, on at least five of the seven authorized drillings “.
According to the decree of the prefect of Gard, the well where Nestlé can no longer pump until further notice had “already been the subject of previous bacteriological contamination following rainy episodes of the Mediterranean type”. Such events “are likely to recur both in frequency and intensity,” it is noted.
To continue to exploit drillings with degraded quality, Nestlé Waters has created a new brand, “Maison Perrier”, which produces drinks that have received a drinking water treatment, and are therefore safe for health purposes, but sold without the mineral water label.