Hygiene of bottled waters under scrutiny in Council's test - CHOICE
# 392 (June 15, 2009)
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Most people would take the purity and hygiene of bottled waters
for granted.
But just do they fare when put to laboratory tests for a host of
chemicals and micro-organisms that may exist in bottled waters.
With the hot summer months just around the corner, the Consumer
Council has conducted a massive test on 40 samples comprising 11
distilled waters, 4 mineralized waters and 25 natural mineral
waters.
It sought to detect the presence of inorganic chemicals, heavy
metals, pesticides, residual disinfectants, as well as to assess
their microbiological quality. Highlights of the test results
include:
First, 8 natural mineral water samples were detected with
Heterotrophic Plate Count (HPC) in the range of 2 cfu/ml to 550
cfu/ml. HPC is a measurement of a wide spectrum of micro-organisms,
including bacteria and fungi, which may occur in large numbers in
raw water sources.
According to WHO Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality, HPC has
little value as an index of pathogen presence but can be useful in
operational monitoring as a treatment and disinfectant indicator in
order to keep the numbers as low as possible.
There is no limit for HPC stipulated in the WHO Guidelines for
Drinking Water Quality and Codex Standard for Natural Mineral
Waters. In addition, HPC is not included as one of the
microbiological criteria for bottled water stipulated in the
Supplementary Information to Microbiological Guidelines for
Ready-to-eat Food.
Although a higher HPC level could not directly indicate the
presence of pathogens, doctors do suggest that young children,
pregnant women, elderly and people with weaker immunity to choose
drinking water carefully. Or, to boil natural mineral waters before
consumption.
Second, 1 natural mineral water sample was found to contain
nitrite in the amount of 0.4 mg/L, which was in excess of the limit
(0.1 mg/L) set in the Codex Standard for Natural Mineral
Waters.
According to the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additive
(JECFA), the acceptable daily intake (ADI) of nitrite is 0 - 0.07
mg/kg body weight.
This means an adult of 60 kg would have to drink more than 10 L
of the sample per day to exceed the ADI of nitrite.
According to the Centre for Food Safety (CFS), there is
currently no specific legislation to govern the level of nitrite in
bottled waters. However, food sold in Hong Kong must be fit for
human consumption.
Third, 2 natural mineral water samples were found to contain
antimony, a toxic heavy metal, at concentration of 0.001 mg/L,
which was well below the limit (0.005 mg/L) set in the Codex
Standard for Natural Mineral Waters.
In the Food Adulteration (Metallic Contamination) Regulations,
the maximum permitted concentration of antimony present in certain
foods is specified. But bottled water is not listed as one of the
specified foods.
Overall, all bottled water samples were not detected with
pesticides, residual disinfectants and pathogens.
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