do crocodiles cry tap or bottled water?
May 13th 2009, 11:50 am
You ought to drink more water, apparently
An advert in the London Lite or the London Paper (one of the two, it’s so hard to tell the difference) caught my evil eye recently. It’s from the Natural Hydration Council and featuring an image of a man-crocodile hybrid clutching a bottle of water, it says that water is naturally kind to teeth. “Choosing water,” it says soothingly, “is a better choice for your teeth. Naturally sourced waters contain no sugar and no additives whatsoever. Drink it every day and you’ll be smiling for years to come.”
Wow, nature made us dependent on something that doesn’t rot our teeth. Who’d have thought? It’s no surprise that the Natural Hydration Council isn’t the objective, authoritative body its name implies but is yet another of those industry lobbying bodies set up to paper over the ethical and environmental cracks in their business practices. To be fair, they’re not hiding – the logos for Buxton (owned by Nestle), Evian (Danone), and Volvic (also Danone) amongst others appear at the bottom, and the council was launched last year with a big fanfare in the beverage industry.
John Vidal’s already noted that the conflict of interests between the NHC and another industry body, the British Soft Drinks Association, which pushes the sugary drinks these companies also produce, but the NHC is also charged with “to research and promote the environmental, health and other sustainable benefits of naturally sourced bottled water and help consumers to make an informed choice about natural bottled water and hydration in their diet.” It’s also helping to position your choice of water (that’s tap versus “naturally sourced”) as a lifestyle choice, encouraging you to develop a “sharp mind” (accompanied by an owl chimera) and “superior performance” (hello, cheetah man) by drinking bottled water.
And yet there doesn’t seem to be any real evidence to support these claims – studies have shown that there’s no benefit to drinking 1.5 litres a day (as Volvic is currently encouraging us to do by having a “cheeky Volvic” every now and then). Plus, the NHC’s claims that “naturally sourced water… is purified naturally rather than through a chemical process…” is a complete crock and rotten science. Are they seriously suggesting that water passing through various geological formations does not undergo chemical changes?
Paolo Sangiorgi, managing director of Nestlé Waters UK, spins further on the supposed benefits. “Not many people realise that natural bottled water comes from fully sustainable sources and in recyclable packaging,” he trills. “We need the council to undertake new research and communicate the facts to ensure fully informed consumer choices.” Putting aside the fact that any research commissioned by an industry body is going to be suspect at best, water is only sustainable if it’s not shipped halfway round the world to leave its point of origin all the more dessicated for it. Of course, climate change could, er, change all that. And yes, PET bottles can be recycled but most of them aren’t.
A great fount of wisdom and sagely advice once said that one of the greatest achievements of Western world was to provide universal clean drinking water (well, in the West at least), and that bottled water was a pointless waste of money, effort and resources. Good on you, Mum. And of course, you should never trust a crocodile.
