More than 118 tons of imported Evian-branded mineral water
failed to meet China's food safety standards, according to national
quality supervisors.
Evian bottled water imported on February 18 contained 100 times
more bacteria than China allows, according to the Website of the
National Administration of Quality Supervision Inspection and
Quarantine yesterday.
It's the largest amount of imported high-end mineral water to
fall foul of Chinese safety laws.
All the bottles were destroyed or returned to Europe before
being sold in Shanghai.
Danone Imported Waters (Asia) Co Ltd, an affiliate to Groupe
Danone SA, the world's leading food and beverage maker, said the
tainted Evian was brought in by a former importer, and the company
is investigating. An official statement will be released later.
"I am afraid it will have a negative impact on our brand image,"
said an official surnamed Gu from Danone's logistics department,
which is in charge of the probe.
"Different safety standards between the European Union and China
may be part of the reason, but we will make sure all products
available on the market are safe."
Ma Youqi, secretary general of Guangdong Provincial Bottled
Water Association, said the water could have been contaminated at
source, while being bottled in factories or transported, according
to Information Times.
Industry observers are calling for tighter rules to better
monitor high-end imported water, which usually sells for 10 times
the price of local brands such as Wahaha and Nongfu Shanquan.
Ninety percent of China's 9.71 million liters of imported
bottled water comes from European Union countries, according to
media reports, citing Shanghai Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine
Bureau.
About 15 out of 128 batches of imported mineral water were
regarded as low-quality products, including Evian and Provence
brands.
(Shanghai Daily May 30, 2007)