Constituents Often Cited by Stakeholders and Nestlé Waters Testing Results

The following chart describes maximum allowable limits under both EPA and FDA regulations, as well as Nestlé Waters’ internal standards. While test results for Nestlé Waters products have never exceeded EPA or FDA allowable limits during the reporting period, we occasionally have had test results that have exceeded Nestlé Waters’ internal limits, which are generally more stringent than regulatory guidelines (see Meeting or Exceeding Regulatory Requirements). In these cases, we have used the findings to identify the cause, quickly correct the situation and prevent further breaches of our internal limits.

Nestlé Waters Guidelines and Results

Addressing Packaging Materials

In addition to glass, Nestlé Waters uses three types of plastic packaging in its products: PET, HDPE and polycarbonate. All of these plastics have been approved by the FDA as safe for food containers and are widely used within the food and beverage industry. Below we outline common stakeholder concerns regarding chemicals in plastic packaging:

Antimony: Antimony is a chemical approved by the FDA as a catalyst in the manufacture of PET—the plastic used for the majority of single-serve water bottles, including ours. Studies in laboratory animals have shown that acute exposure from breathing powdered antimony may be carcinogenic. There is no evidence of any risk from ingestion.

Currently, two-thirds of our bottles use antimony as a catalyst. Minute traces of antimony remain in PET after the bottle is formed. However, internal studies by our Product Technology Center show that, even after months of storage, any trace amounts of antimony that may migrate into bottled water are well below the regulatory limits for drinking water set by the EPA, FDA and World Health Organization.

Bisphenol A (BPA): BPA is an FDA-approved compound used as the starting material in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastics—the hard plastics used in the packaging of many consumer goods. Small residues may remain in the plastic and under certain conditions may migrate in trace levels into packaged foods from linings of canned foods, beverage bottles and baby bottles, among others. Some research has shown BPA to be an endocrine disruptor at high levels in laboratory animals. However, as recently as July 2008, the European Food Safety Authority concluded that the Tolerable Daily Intake of 0.05 milligram/ kg of body weight per day provides a sufficient margin of safety for the protection of consumers, including fetuses and newborns. Additionally, in an August 2008 draft safety assessment for BPA, the FDA established a ‘no observed adverse effect level’ (NOAEL) for exposure of 5 milligram/kg of body weight per day. As standard estimates for exposure to BPA from food packaging or containers are well below this level (0.185 microgram/kg of body weight per day in adults and 2.42 micrograms/kg of body weight per day for infants), the FDA concluded that an adequate margin of safety exists for BPA.

While the vast majority of Nestlé Waters bottles are made from PET, our three and five-gallon HOD bottles are made of polycarbonate plastic. This plastic is ideal for big-volume containers as it is lightweight, transparent, shatter-resistant and can be easily cleaned, refilled and reused. Moreover, BPA migration has not been shown to be a concern, given the conditions and low temperature of bottling and storage of bottled water. Studies by our Product Technology Center have shown zero to trace levels of BPA (less than two parts per billion) migrate into the water during normal bottling and typical periods of storage and distribution (12 weeks). At this level, the average adult would have to drink 52.8 gallons of water per day to reach the NOAEL established in the draft FDA safety assessment. Some stakeholders have also raised concerns about the migration of BPA from plastic into water at high temperatures. In practice, water would need to be kept at a high temperature (near boiling point) for an extended period of time to cause a significant increase in migration, and during storage and transport, our bottles are not exposed to such conditions.

Phthalates: Phthalates belong to a class of chemical compounds used as additives for polyvinylchloride (PVC) plastics. There are two types of phthalates—terephthalates and orthophthalates. Orthophthalates, chemicals believed to disrupt human endocrines and development at high levels, are the problematic type of phthalates and are not used to make any of our bottles.

Our PET bottles contain terephthalate, a non-harmful chemical that is well-fixed and stable in PET and does not leach into water.

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Efforts to Provide Clean, Safe Water to Communities When Supplies are Interrupted

On occasion, communities throughout North America face interruptions in their water supplies due to failures of municipal equipment or distribution systems, emergencies, natural disasters or other events that may cause service disruptions. For nearly three decades, Nestlé Waters has worked with the American Red Cross, AmeriCares and other disaster relief organizations. Because bottled water is portable and comes in a sealed container, it is an ideal product to ensure people have access to clean drinking water when local water supplies become either unsafe or unavailable.

Through our partnership with the American Red Cross, we provided millions of bottles of water to communities struck by the four Florida hurricanes in 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. We also donated 1.2 million bottles of water to the Gulf Coast region in preparation for the 2006 hurricane season. In 2007, through these partnerships and other local donations, we gave over one million bottles of water to rescue workers and residents impacted by tornadoes, wildfires and other service disruptions. Learn more about Nestlé Water’s efforts to respond to disasters.

According to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention between 2003 and 2004, a total of 36 waterborne diseases and outbreaks were reported in the U.S., 30 of which were associated with drinking water. The Canadian Medical Association Journal issued 1,766 such alerts between 2006 and 2008, 679 of which occurred in Canada’s most populous province, Ontario. In these situations, bottled water provides a safe alternative for communities in need.

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