Nestlé accused of selling contaminated water and billion-dollar fraud

In recent months, media investigations have revealed that mineral water sources in France have been contaminated with fecal matter, Escherichia coli bacteria and pesticides, among other things. Companies such as Nestlé illegally filtered the water and continued to sell it as ‘natural mineral water’.

Independent research platform Mediapart said the amount of fraud over the past 15 years amounted to €3 billion. The consumer organization Foodwatch is calling on the French authorities to bring those responsible to justice.

Consumers had already filed a lawsuit against Nestlé and French mineral water producer Sources Alma in February this year.

“Nestlé apparently sold billions of bottles of water for decades that had nothing to do with ‘natural mineral water’: in France, Europe and even the rest of the world, and consumers were completely unaware,” says Ingrid Kragle of Foodwatch France.

If the new media reports are confirmed, there is only one conclusion: the mineral water scandal is the result of decades of systematic fraud by the corporation, Kragle said, and called on authorities to act quickly and initiate a judicial investigation.

The European Commission plans to publish an investigation report on the French authorities' actions in this case.

According to the relevant EU directive, ‘natural mineral water’ must meet certain criteria: it must be of pristine purity and come from underground sources protected from contamination. Only a few purification methods are allowed in the production and processing of natural mineral water, but these are not the methods used by Nestlé and Sources Alma.

A Nestlé spokesman said he disagreed with Mediapart's ‘figures and method of calculation’.

The current Nestlé mineral water scandal is not the first time the company has faced allegations of standards violations. In April 2024, the Swiss NGO Public Eye, together with the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN), conducted an investigation that found that Nestlé baby food sold in low- and middle-income countries contained excessive amounts of sugar.

In May 2015, authorities in several Indian states found elevated levels of lead in Nestlé noodles. The Indian food regulator recognized the product as hazardous to health and accused the company of violating food safety standards. The noodles were also found to contain monosodium glutamate, which is not listed in the ingredients list.

In February 2022, French health authorities reported a sharp increase in the number of cases of kidney failure in children due to E. coli contamination. It was later discovered that the cause was the consumption of frozen Buitoni pizza produced by a subsidiary of Nestlé at a factory in Caudry, in northern France. The poisoning affected more than 70 people and two children died.