Sean Poulter - Daily Mail
London, January 2 - BOTTLED water is being boycotted by the Government's food and drink watchdog in what green campaigners hope will inspire a consumer backlash.
The Food Standards Agency has decided to offer only filtered tap water in its offices because it is seen as a greener option.
The watchdog believes the bottling and transport of water is a huge waste of energy, money and resources.
It is supported by the food and farming department, DEFRA, and the Department of Transport, which have also switched to tap water.
The FSA's director of corporate resources, Pat Stewart, said: 'We are using tap water filtered on the premises and provided in re-useable bottles.
'We want to cut waste, reduce energy and transport costs and promote recycling, as well as reducing our costs.'
The FSA's decision will disappoint the bottled water industry, which has seen spectacular growth and now has UK sales of £1.7billion a year.
Two billion litres a year is consumed even though it costs more than 500 times as much as tap water.
Britain's biggest brand Evian sells at 42p for 500ml, compared with 0.08p for the same amount of tap water.
While most of the bottled water brands come from Europe, some are being shipped from as far away as Canada and Fiji.
The leading food and health campaigning group, Sustain, is calling on the rest of government, business and consumers to follow the FSA's example.
In a report today, it says: 'Bottled water has no convincing health benefits, and is, in fact, associated with some health concerns.
Worse, producing bottled water and transporting it to us uses considerable quantities of precious energy and generates prodigious quantities of plastic waste, very little of which is recycled.'
Just 17 per cent of the estimated two billion bottles used for water are recycled every year.
Sustain complained: 'The reality contrasts sharply with the glamorous image of water, which seems to have persuaded us to abandon common sense and simply open our wallets and purses.
'Bottled water marketing plays heavily on notions of purity, peace, silence, nature - an antidote to our busy urban lifestyles.
'It is also promoted heavily to 15-34 year old women and has become a "must-have" fashion accessory.'
However, it said that bottled water does not have to match what are much stricter controls on tap water.
For example, unlike tap water, most bottled brands contain sodium, which is a factor in increasing blood pressure and strokes.
Sustain also highlights reports suggesting a contamination risk.
In March 2004, the cancer-risk chemical bromate was found in Dasani water, produced by Coca-Cola in the UK.
Research in Germany has found that antimony, which is toxic, can leach from the plastic bottles used for the water.
There is also evidence that toxic chemicals can pass through the plastic of the bottles to taint the water. As a result, water stored next to household chemicals could be contaminated.
Sustain added that bottled water does not even taste any better than tap water, particularly if both are refrigerated.
s.poulter@dailymail.co.uk
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