Corporate Accountability International Campaign Confuses Consumers and Provides Bottled Water Misinformation

    ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a
 statement of the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA):
 
     Corporate Accountability International (CAI) today is holding events in
 a number of cities across the United States in an attempt to sway consumers
 and government organizations from choosing bottled water as their
 beverage-of-choice. The CAI campaign is based on factual errors and
 subjective viewpoints on bottled water and does nothing more than confuse
 and misinform consumers. Bottled water is comprehensively regulated as a
 packaged food product by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and
 state regulatory agencies. The current system of bottled water regulation
 provides consumers with outstanding bottled water safety, quality and
 public health protection.
 
     CAI strives to frame the issue as a "bottled water versus tap water
 debate," thereby missing the point. Many consumers drink both bottled water
 and tap water depending on the circumstances; it does not always amount to
 a tap water versus bottled water choice. Consumers are not uniformly
 replacing tap water with bottled water; they are also drinking other
 beverages available at the store and home. Consumers across the United
 States choose bottled water as an alternative to other packaged beverages
 when they want to avoid or moderate calories, caffeine, sugar, artificial
 flavors or colors, alcohol and other ingredients. Or, they choose bottled
 water because they prefer its taste.
 
     The bottled water industry, like many others in the food and beverage
 industry, works to reduce its environmental footprint. For example, the
 bottled water industry is using lighter-weight plastics for its containers
 (the amount of resin needed has been reduced by almost 40 percent over five
 years) and is utilizing more fuel efficient means of transporting the
 product to market. In addition, bottled water is one of thousands of
 packaged foods and beverages used by consumers every day; bottled water
 containers are fully recyclable and should be properly recycled through
 whatever system a local municipality has in place. Despite their
 popularity, PET water bottles account for less than one-third of one
 percent of all waste produced in the US in 2005. Any efforts or actions
 that discourage consumer use of this beneficial product are not in the
 public interest.
 
     Rather than focusing on one beverage choice, it would make more sense
 for consumers and government officials to focus on improving curbside
 recycling rates for all consumer packaging. IBWA strongly encourages
 container recycling and encourages officials to provide citizens with easy
 and efficient opportunities to help ensure that they are properly recycled.
 
     IBWA commends municipalities for providing safe drinking water to its
 citizens and stands ready to work with government officials across the
 country to address the need for safe drinking water for healthy
 communities. However, the CAI campaign only encourages an unnecessary and
 confusing "bottled water versus tap water" debate.
 
     IBWA stands ready to work with government officials to address the need
 for safe drinking water for healthy communities.
 
     Consumers can remain confident in making bottled water their beverage
 of choice. The bottled water industry will continue to work closely with
 FDA and state agencies to help ensure that consumers have access to safe,
 high-quality bottled water.
 
     The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) is the authoritative
 source of information about all types of bottled waters. Founded in 1958,
 IBWA's membership includes U.S. and international bottlers, distributors
 and suppliers. IBWA is committed to working with the U.S. Food and Drug
 Administration (FDA), which regulates bottled water as a packaged food
 product, and state governments to set stringent standards for safe, high
 quality bottled water products. In addition to FDA and state regulations,
 the Association requires member bottlers to adhere to the IBWA Bottled
 Water Code of Practice, which mandates additional standards and practices
 that in some cases are more stringent than federal and state regulations. A
 key feature of the IBWA Bottled Water Code of Practice is an annual,
 unannounced plant inspection by an independent, third party organization.
 Consumers can contact IBWA at 1-800-WATER-11 or log onto IBWA's web site
 (www.bottledwater.org) for more information about bottled water and a list
 of members' brands.
 
 
 
 

SOURCE International Bottled Water Association