In recent weeks, the bottled water industry has addressed issues of significant interest to drinking water utilities:
Senator seeks action from FDA on PFAS in bottled water – Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) called on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in bottled water. Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, sent a July 29 letter to acting FDA chief Norman E. Sharpless outlining his requests. The senator said he wants the agency to set standards for these chemicals in bottled water that would be five times lower than a safety threshold the EPA set for tap water in 2016. The request came just weeks after a New England water bottler experienced contamination problems. The FDA had already begun to test food for PFAS and issued preliminary results from its first tests earlier in the summer. The testing did not include bottled water.
Coke putting Dasani water in cans amid backlash against plastic – Coca-Cola Co. is putting its Dasani water brand into aluminum cans as the beverage industry faces pressure to reduce its use of plastic. Coke began selling canned Dasani in the U.S. Northeast in late summer, with plans to expand the product to other parts of the country in 2020. The announcement came after PepsiCo Inc. said recently it would experiment with selling Aquafina, its mainstream water brand, in cans at restaurants and stadiums.
In addition to the can test, Coke is unveiling a new hybrid Dasani bottle, with half of the materials from a combination of plants and recycled plastic. The initiatives are designed to appeal to customers and help Coke meet its pledge to boost the use of recycled material by 2030.