The production licenses of 10% of bottled water companies have been suspended by the Food and Drug Administration and their brands withdrawn from the market, said Rasoul Dinarvand, head of FDA.
Last month, Health Minister Hassan Hashemi had directed the FDA to check content and packaging of all bottled water in the country. He also instructed the public health watchdog to determine the genuine brands of mineral water and whether the packaging material or process is harmful to human health.
“More than 300 brands of bottled water were tested for chemical and bacterial contaminants and a little over 10% of them were found to contain chemical or microbial pollutants, heavy metals, nitrate and nitrite; all of them were withdrawn from store shelves,” said Dinarvand, ISNA reported.
Errant companies will have to suspend operations till such time they remove the harmful contaminants and ensure safety of their products.
“Once they rectify the problem, they can resume supply under the supervision of technical and quality control officials,” he said, assuring the public that they will be notified whenever there are violations.
A number of companies with flawed labeling on bottles were warned and told to provide the right information.
“Mistakes on the labels mislead users and cause confusion. Producers must follow the general instructions on preparing and labeling a food product,” he stressed.
A quality assessment system will be launched soon on periodic inspection of each company. Once operational, information will be made public, which “will help people choose quality products.”
Dinarvand assured that all bottled water in the market currently available “is safe and people can consume it without worry.”
