Irish consumers should not be concerned about the quality and safety of bottled waters on the market, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) said today.
The statement comes after a media report that claimed high levels of contamination were found in bottled waters surveyed by the State’s food safety watchdog.
The FSAI said its draft report on the safety of bottled natural mineral water, spring water and other waters in 2007 revealed that one per cent of the waters surveyed had traces of E.Coli and 6.3 per cent were found to contain coliforms.
Coliforms are a group of bacteria that indicate standards of hygiene at the water source or during the bottling process are poor. However the FSAI say their presence in bottled water does not necessarily indicate a risk to consumer health.
It said it was concerned about the levels of E-coli detected but said its environmental health officers took ‘swift action’ by withdrawing a number of bottled waters from the market and taking corrective actions in the bottling process.
However when contacted this afternoon, a spokeswoman for the FSAI declined to name any of the products that were withdrawn.
The full report on bottled waters is due to be published shortly.
Fine Gael has called for the companies involved to be named and shamed. Its spokesman on food Andrew Doyle said it was completely unacceptable the public were being kept in the dark.
“These tests were carried out almost a year ago but instead of making their findings public, the FSAI kept ‘schtum,’” he said.
“At this stage, all information must be immediately released and the brands that tested negative must be named and shamed.
“At the very minimum last year, the entire batch of contaminated water should have been recalled and the public informed. It is simple not good enough that this did not occur and the FSAI as well as the National
Standards Authority of Ireland have serious questions to answer,” he added.
Labour Party spokesman on agriculture and food Sean Sherlock said it was unacceptable to expose consumers to health risk.
“The FSAI should make clear why it believes that it is acceptable to keep this vital information from the public,” Mr Sherlock said.