Reporting alarming water shortage data from the United Nations and U.S. water managers, a Wall Street Journal reporter surveys corporate efforts to calculate the water needed to produce a single unit of consumer merchandise and find ways to reduce water “footprints.” Alexandra Alter, “Yet Another ‘Footprint’ to Worry About: Water,” The Wall Street Journal, February 17, 2009. With two-thirds of the world’s population facing water scarcity by 2025, and 36 U.S. states expecting shortages by 2013, “water footprinting has gained currency among corporations seeking to protect their agricultural supply chains and factory operations from future water scarcity,” writes Alter. According to Alter, it can take up to 132 gallons of water to make a 2-liter bottle of soda and a cup of coffee can take about 35 gallons. Representatives from some 100 companies, including PepsiCo Inc. and Starbucks Corp., will apparently convene in Miami the week of February 23 to address…
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A multidistrict litigation court (MDL) in New York has dismissed putative class claims filed against PepsiCo., Inc. for allegedly misrepresenting the source of its Aquafina® bottled water, “by using a label designed to create the impression that the water came from a mountain source and failing to inform consumers that the true source . . . was public drinking supplies commonly known as ‘tap water.’” In re: PepsiCo., Inc. Bottled Water Mktg. & Sales Practices Litig., MDL No. 1903 (S.D.N.Y., decided December 5, 2008). The court determined that plaintiffs’ state-law unfair and deceptive trade practices claims were expressly preempted under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA). According to the court, “the FDCA’s statutory framework and regulatory history . . . reveal that the FDA specifically addressed the disclosure of source information and determined, in its expert opinion, that representations of source are immaterial in the context of purified water.”…
Toronto’s city council has approved a ban on the sale and distribution of bottled water at city facilities, making it the largest city in the world to impose such a ban. The council also approved a measure requiring shoppers to pay five Canadian cents for plastic bags and business owners to offer reusable bags and carry-out containers. Environmental concerns have apparently spurred the initiatives, which come on the heels of a complaint filed by environmental interests in Canada against Nestlé accusing it of misleading the public by claiming that its bottled water is “the most environmentally responsible consumer product in the world.” A company spokesperson reportedly stood by the claim, saying that most water bottles are recycled and that bottled water takes less water to produce than soft drinks, sliced bread or a can of vegetables. See Globe and Mail, December 1, 2008; Wikinews Shorts, December 4, 2008.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG), which has been studying the contents of bottled water for the past two years, reportedly notified a national retailer that it intends to bring a lawsuit under California’s Proposition 65 for the company’s failure to inform consumers that some brands of bottled water contain chlorine-based contaminants that are known to the state to cause cancer. Numerous media outlets announced the release of EWG’s study results, which purportedly show that leading brands contain many of the same contaminants as tap water, such as bacteria, caffeine, acetaminophen, fertilizer, solvents, plastic-making chemicals, and the radioactive element strontium. Researchers opined that some of the substances, detected below federal health standards, come from the tap water that some companies use in their bottled products and others apparently leach from the plastic bottles. Environmental engineer Jane Houlihan, who coauthored the study, was quoted as saying, “In some cases, it appears bottled…
