Aquafina Label to Spill Tap-Water Origin
by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA on 07.27.07
We've already touted the fact that Aquafina's bottled water gets piped directly from Detroit's municipal reservoirs, but it sounds like this incidental detail is about to get blown out of the water, courtesy of parent company PepsiCo.
According to Corporate Accountability International, a U.S. watchdog group, the world's No. 2 beverage company will include the words "Public Water Source" on Aquafina labels, if a tad begrudgingly. "If this helps clarify the fact that the water originates from public sources, then it's a reasonable thing to do," says Michelle Naughton, a Pepsi-Cola North America spokeswoman.
We wonder what effect this disclosure will have on sales—will hip, young things eschew the popular brand for more de-rigeur spring waters because it's oh so gauche to be caught glugging from the tap? Or will they realize they've been had and cease contributing to the water barons' billion-dollar-per-year racket? TreeHugger drinks to thirst quenchers everywhere—and hopes. ::Reuters
See also: Pablo Calculates the True Cost of Bottled Water, ::Wedjaget That Bottled Water?, and ::A World of Reasons to Ditch Bottled Water
Now THAT'S a "flavor splash."
I am not sure why Aquafina has to do this. Shouldn't there be a standard of drinks' water source identification on labels first? I don't know where the water in Gatorade, Coke, Vitamin Water, etc. comes from, so why does Aquafina have to pay the price? I think knowing where it comes from is a good thing, but before individual companies are forced to disclose this kind of info, I think it should be established for the whole industry.
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JMC: As far as I know, this is a voluntary thing.
"before individual companies are forced to disclose this kind of info, I think it should be established for the whole industry."
Agreed. Many times over.
Of course Pepsi is not the only vendor to find hot water over their source labeling.
For more on "sources of misdirection" in the water industry click here:
http://sneakybusiness.typepad.com/sneaky/2007/07/aquafina-comes-.html
ha. My friends always thought I just had no sense of taste when I said I couldn't tell the difference between Aquafina and tapwater! Now I know who's got no taste.
"before individual companies are forced to disclose this kind of info, I think it should be established for the whole industry."
No. Out them all-at-once if you can, otherwise go one crook at-a-time. Exposing one often leads to that one pressuring for industry exposure to 'level the playing field.'
i know how to cut water bottle use by , say 1\3 . its easy and wouldn't cost anything. but i can get the bottlers to look at it.
IF we could make it a requierment that bottles came from the bottlers with the ablity to be presonlized , people would be able to tell which bottle they had opened after they sat it down or put it back in the cooler, rather then not knowing which was theres and just opening a 2nd bottle, however bottlers hate the idea cheek out www.drinkyourown.com , www.looknsip.com and www.cootieblockers.com think how much plasic would not end up on the beachs and parks if we stop half drank bottles from being tossed and a 2ad opened
I agree that it should be established across all companies to identify the water source on their labels. I think it's definitely a big step for Aquafina to take the lead in this and change their label to reflect public water source. It shows that they care about being honest and accurate in their products and not trying to mislead consumers, which I never thought them to do in the first place. If people would have actually thought about where the water came from they would have realized that it comes from a public water source.