Perrier, Hépar, Contrex… how Nestlé obtained State authorization to treat its mineral waters with illegal filters

An investigation by Radio France and Le Monde reveals how Nestlé Waters, through an intense lobbying campaign with Matignon and the Elysée, was able to illegally obtain authorization to treat its bottled water with non-compliant filters. 

According to an investigation by Radio France and Le Monde the French government allegedly authorized the Nestlé group to use non-compliant filters for its bottled water.

The justice system is not alerted

Unveiled in January 2024, the affair dates back to the end of August 2021 when Agnès Pannier-Runacher's chief of staff, François Rosenfeld, mentioned in a report of a meeting with Nestlé the presence of “disinfection measures” prohibited in their factories, in particular with carbon filters and UV filters. A note is then requested from the DGRCF so that it details the controls that have been launched.

In the meantime, Nestlé obtains an exemption to use non-compliant but legally authorized filters. Despite evidence of deception by the company, no legal action is taken.

The government, informed by Bercy, decides not to take legal action and requests a report from the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs (IGAS) on unauthorized treatments of mineral waters. Three packaging plants that produce the Eau Neuve and Mont Roucous brands will be inspected in Occitanie, but not the Perrier plant in the Gard, which is left out, according to our colleagues.

Read also:Illegally treated bottled water: Nestlé targeted by a judicial investigation for deception, the Senate investigation threatened ?

Major lobbying operation

More than a year later, in November 2022, the Vergèze plant was finally inspected and the report drawn up by the Occitanie Regional Health Agency mentioned “microbiological deviations on all catchments (coliforms, enterococci, E. coli)”. Traces of chemical pollutants are also found in the drilling.

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Read also: The end of Perrier in the Gard ? A damning report points the finger at the "health risk" of the water at the Vergèze site, Nestlé responds

Inspectors also discover a hidden batch of“Prohibited treatments: double piping and UV treatments and activated carbons, explains Radio France. Later inspections carried out in the Hépar and Contrex brand boreholes will also show that they are contaminated by bacteria.

Subsequently, several exchanges of emails, ministerial notes and internal documents, consulted by Radio France and Le Monde, will highlight the intense lobbying operation carried out by Nestlé with the French State. An operation described as “blackmail” by the Director General of Health Jérôme Salomon but which allowed Nestlé to obtain authorization to use non-compliant filters in its factories.

“All decisions were taken in a concerted manner”

Despite a proven health risk, the Elysée and Matignon allowed Nestlé to circumvent regulations for the treatment of its bottled water. This is something that the Elysée does not deny to our colleagues, stating that it “has no vocation to intervene on water microfiltration methods (…) and the Elysée referred those concerned to the competent State services”.

Read also: Water contaminated for more than 15 years, a fraud worth 3 billion: Nestlé has allegedly been deceiving its consumers since 2010

While former collaborators of Elisabeth Borne assure that “the subject was never brought up to the Prime Minister”, her former chief of staff, Aurélien Rousseau, admits that a note that he no longer remembers was indeed sent to her. Bruno Le Maire claims for his part to have learned of the affair “in the press”.

Victor Blonde, former advisor to the Elysée and Matignon, stated that “all decisions were taken in a concerted manner and in coherence with the Minister of Health”. The Nestlé Waters group maintains “that it has never threatened the State with anything”, and maintains that its 0.2 micron microfilters “guarantee food safety, without being a disinfection”.