Sometimes a Bottle of Water Isn’t Just a Bottle of Water – Part II

Americans have all sorts of reasons for drinking bottled water: taste, convenience, health and even perhaps just to appear fashionable. The fact, however, is that the various brands of bottled water which many folks consider fungible and purchase based solely on price or convenient availability, aren’t all the same. Some are water and nothing else, while others come in bottles labeled with an actual ingredients list! What follows is my admittedly unscientific comparison of the labels of six different bottled water brands from my recycling bin. First alphabetically is Acadia Natural Spring Water, the store brand sold by Stop & Shop Supermarkets, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dutch-based Royal Ahold. While it’s important to note here that “natural” is not a regulated term, the Acadia label lists only water sourced from protected springs in various Pennsylvania locations. Although the website Fooducate.com gives Acadia a grade of A,
WebMD.com found that random Acadia samples “bore the chemical signatures of the municipal water treatment plants in the areas where they were bottled,” and, in some cases, contained chemical levels exceeding the bottled water industry’s voluntary safety standards. Sounds like Fooducate.com is guilty of grade inflation.

Next up is Dasani, a brand produced by the Coca Cola Company. There are four ingredients in Dasani: water, magnesium sulfate, potassium chloride and salt. The water in the Dasani bottles is tap water, a fact readily admitted by Coca Cola. As far as I’m concerned, that knowledge alone is enough to keep me from ever drinking it again; if I wanted tap water I could certainly turn on the faucet and save my money! The additional additives, however, are problematic if not downright frightening. Magnesium sulfate is also known as Epsom salts, and is a drying agent with many medicinal purposes, including use as a laxative and to inhibit uterine contractions in pregnant women. Why would Coca Cola want to add a drying agent to their bottled water? Is it their aim to make people thirstier that ever, so that they’ll be more likely to go and buy a Coke?

Dasani ingredient number three is especially scary. Potassium chloride is the chemical used to stop the heart when performing lethal injections. It is also utilized in fertilizer. What is this poison doing in bottled water? Coca Cola claims it’s added to enhance the flavor, yet potassium chloride is also known for its bitterness and metallic aftertaste. Maybe if they didn’t just bottle the local tap water and sell it, the inherent flavor wouldn’t be such an issue! Finally, salt is the fourth Dasani ingredient. Salt makes you thirsty, and everyone knows that too much salt causes health problems. Since Fooducate.com has chosen to give Dasani water a grade of A-, I won’t be reporting their obviously-stilted ratings going forward. Bottom line: avoid Dasani. Fiji water will be up next.

By: Lee Ann Rush