The government of French President Emmanuel Macron covered up decisions over the illegal treatment of mineral water by food industry giant Nestlé, including the world-famous Perrier brand, a Senate inquiry commission has said.
Its report focused on Nestlé’s years of use of treatments to avoid bacterial or chemical contamination of water labelled as “natural mineral water” or “spring water” for brands also including Contrex, Vittel and Hépar.
Such treatments are prohibited under French and European regulations.
The report concluded that France’s government had concealed “illegal practices.”
“In addition to Nestlé Waters’ lack of transparency, the French government’s lack of transparency must also be highlighted,” it said.
French media reported the banned treatments last year.
Nestlé paid fine to avoid legal action
The report noted a “deliberate strategy” of concealment since the first government meeting on the issue in October 2021.
Months later, authorities agreed to a Nestlé plan to replace the banned treatments with microfiltering.
Nestlé did not immediately respond to a request for comment and France’s government did not comment.
Last year, the Swiss company publicly acknowledged having used treatments on mineral waters and agreed to pay a €2 million fine to avoid legal action.
The inquiry commission interviewed more than 120 people including Nestlé’s CEO and top managers.
The commission concluded “that the presidency of the republic had known, at least since 2022, that Nestlé had been cheating for years.”
Asked about scandal in February, Macron said he was “not aware of these things. There is no collusion with anyone.”
Fraud estimated to be worth over €3 billion
Alexandre Ouizille, the commission’s rapporteur, said the total amount of the fraud has been estimated at over €3 billion by France’s agency in charge of fraud control.
Natural mineral water is sold about 100 to 400 times the price of tap water, he said, denouncing “misleading of consumers.”
Ouizille described a Nestlé plant in southern France the commission visited where there were “sliding cabinets behind which illegal treatments were carried out.”
The report said Nestlé argued there was a risk of job losses if the government did not authorise some kind of treatment or microfiltration, because its plants would have to close due to spring water being contaminated by bacteria like E. coli that can cause serious illness and death.
Laurent Burgoa, the president of the commission, said there has been no proven harm to the health of people who drank water sold by Nestlé.
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