Amid arsenic concerns: one brand stops water production, another carries on
In April of this year, we wrote about the Consumer Reports’ findings that nearly a dozen brands of bottled water contained “detectable arsenic levels”. “Detectable” meaning arsenic levels measuring 3 parts per billion or more. At the time, many were unsure how the brands would react to the news. A little more than two months later, we’re getting some clarity on the situation.
Whole Foods Market, which sold Starkey Water, has chosen to downplay the report’s findings, releasing a statement that reads:
At Starkey Water, our highest priority is to provide customers with safe, high-quality and refreshing spring water," the statement read. "Beyond the required annual testing by an FDA certified lab, we have an accredited third-party lab test every production run of water before it is sold, and our test results from the same lot analyzed by Consumer Reports show that these products are fully compliant with FDA standards for heavy metals. We would never sell products that do not meet FDA requirements."
For its part, Keurig Dr. Pepper has owned the report, and confirmed that its arsenic levels were measured at 17 parts per billion. Which is more than 5 times the “detectable” level. Keuring Dr. Pepper ceased production of its water following the release of the report. In spite of the moves being or not being made by the brands, the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) believes that Whole Foods and Keurig Dr. Pepper knew about the arsenic concerns long before the report was released.
So Whole Foods believes their water is still safe and Keurig Dr. Pepper has stopped production. Those reactions are about as opposite as you could get. CEH has made it clear that they’d like to see other companies follow Keurig Dr. Pepper by ceasing production of water that could contain arsenic. As Caroline Cox, a CEH scientist explains it, “There is no place for arsenic in bottled water.”
To read the story over at AOL.com, click here: https://aol.it/2FS4XXv
For our previous post on CEH’s and Consumer Reports’ study, click here: https://bit.ly/2Jfa3PP