Experts urge new standards in bottled water
By Li Qian |
May 3, 2013, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
EXPERTS are urging China to set up an updated national standard on bottled water to ensure quality and safety and keep companies from using different standards set up by health authorities, local governments or the producers themselves.
China now has different standards for natural mineral water, which is withdrawn from underground aquifers, and purified water, which is processed from tap water. Neither may contain additives.
Other packaged water is classified as bottled water. Since the water is supposed to be qualified tap water, China sets only 20 quality indexes to test bottled water, more than five times fewer than the standards for tap water.
The problem is that some producers use other sources for their water, the Beijing News reported yesterday.
While the national standards are open to everyone, most companies regard their "company standards" as a business secret, while insisting their products meet national standards, the newspaper reported.
The nation follows standards adopted from the former Soviet Union to test bacteria and microbes in bottled water, while for tap water, criteria were modeled after updated detection methods of the World Health Organization, the report said.
The National Health and Family Planning Commission, formerly known as Health Ministry, and several other departments set tap water standards, while the former food department with China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention set standards for bottled water.
Labeling can be confusing, such as claims that products are purified water-based, or follow the hygienic standards of purified water, in order to avoid being accused of violating the rules. Others make standards of their own, sometimes in cooperation with local governments.
The Yunnan factory of Coca Cola adds magnesium sulfate and potassium chloride to purified water when making mineral water. The product does not indicate whether it was tested for mercury, formaldehyde or cadmium.
The national standard for bottled water "should be unified," said Liu Wenjun, an environmental professor with Tsinghua University.
Authorities should establish a department and recruit experts to update the standards, said Wang Xiuyan, deputy director with the Beijing mineral water commission.
China now has different standards for natural mineral water, which is withdrawn from underground aquifers, and purified water, which is processed from tap water. Neither may contain additives.
Other packaged water is classified as bottled water. Since the water is supposed to be qualified tap water, China sets only 20 quality indexes to test bottled water, more than five times fewer than the standards for tap water.
The problem is that some producers use other sources for their water, the Beijing News reported yesterday.
While the national standards are open to everyone, most companies regard their "company standards" as a business secret, while insisting their products meet national standards, the newspaper reported.
The nation follows standards adopted from the former Soviet Union to test bacteria and microbes in bottled water, while for tap water, criteria were modeled after updated detection methods of the World Health Organization, the report said.
The National Health and Family Planning Commission, formerly known as Health Ministry, and several other departments set tap water standards, while the former food department with China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention set standards for bottled water.
Labeling can be confusing, such as claims that products are purified water-based, or follow the hygienic standards of purified water, in order to avoid being accused of violating the rules. Others make standards of their own, sometimes in cooperation with local governments.
The Yunnan factory of Coca Cola adds magnesium sulfate and potassium chloride to purified water when making mineral water. The product does not indicate whether it was tested for mercury, formaldehyde or cadmium.
The national standard for bottled water "should be unified," said Liu Wenjun, an environmental professor with Tsinghua University.
Authorities should establish a department and recruit experts to update the standards, said Wang Xiuyan, deputy director with the Beijing mineral water commission.
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