Nestlé thought it would be acquitted in the mineral water fraud case (Vittel, Contrex, Hépar, Perrier) after agreeing to pay a fine of 2 million euros under a public interest court settlement (CJIP) validated on September 10. I’m not so sure. According to information from World and Radio France, a new complaint against “deception” has been filed on Wednesday 25 September with the Paris court by the consumer protection association Foodwatch.
A second similar complaint is directed at the Sources Alma group (Cristaline, St-Yorre, Vichy Célestins, Chateldon, etc.) based on new elements. As revealed The world and Radio France in January 2024, for many years, the waters sold as “from source” EITHER “natural minerals” have been subjected to prohibited purification techniques, in particular to treat contamination of bacterial or chemical origin. This water, which is reputed to be the purest, is supposed to come from preserved underground resources and should not be subjected to disinfection.
An alternative measure to prosecution intended to speed up proceedings, the CJIP was extended to the environmental field in 2021. The agreement signed between the Epinal prosecutor’s office and Nestlé Waters protected the agri-food giant from a possible trial by ending two preliminary investigations: one into the prohibited treatments that the world’s number 1 in bottled water admitted to having applied to its mineral waters; the other, into illegal drilling in the water table in the Vittel and Contrexéville areas, in the Vosges.
Described by Epinal prosecutor Frédéric Nahon as “the most important environmental agreement signed to date in France”there CJIP concluded with the subsidiary of the Swiss group allows, According to the magistrate“by sanctioning the breaches observed, in order to promote the quickest regularization of the situation, the repair of the ecological impact and the compensation of various parties”.
“Impunity is unacceptable”
In addition to a fine of 2 million euros (1% of its annual turnover) that it must pay to the State within three months, the commitment to invest 1.1 million euros in a “Renaturalization and restoration plan” Nestlé Waters, which has filed a complaint against two watercourses in the Vittel and Contrexéville areas, must also pay compensation to several environmental protection associations for a total amount of 516,800 euros.
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