French Court Rejects Complaint Against Nestlé’s Perrier Water
(Bloomberg) -- A French civil court rejected a legal complaint against Nestlé SA that could have threatened the future of its iconic, billion-dollar Perrier water brand.
The court of first instance of Nanterre, west of Paris, said consumer rights group UFC-Que Choisir failed in its complaint to demonstrate any illicit processes by the Perrier brand’s Swiss owner. It ordered the association to pay €5,000 ($5,787) to Nestlé, according to a court statement.
UFC-Que Choisir lodged a complaint in June, accusing Nestlé of mislabeling Perrier bottles as natural mineral waters while using prohibited filtering methods. It has also filed two other legal procedures in France against the company and various parties that it says are involved in the use of banned filtering methods for natural mineral waters.
“We welcome the court’s decision to reject all of UFC-Que Choisir’s demands in this case,” Nestlé said in a statement. “Today’s decision confirms that the food safety of Perrier natural mineral waters has always been guaranteed and that under the current circumstances, Perrier natural mineral water can continue to be sold.”
The water filtering complaints added to the concerns of the world’s largest food company, which has been struggling from a revolving door to the management suite, volatile consumer demand, and sales growth that slumped last year to the lowest in decades.
Nestlé has been under increased scrutiny after last year acknowledging the use of charcoal and UV filtering, which are prohibited in Europe for waters labeled as “natural mineral” water. The company’s unit, Nestlé Waters, agreed to pay a €2 million fine, on top of receiving other penalties, to settle French criminal probes into the use of illegal wells and its mineral water treatment, while making no admission of guilt.
On its website, the company has added a notice to say that “Perrier water carries the designation ‘natural mineral water,’ even though it may not fully qualify as such. Consequently, Nestlé Waters has requested the necessary administrative authorizations to ensure compliance with the regulatory framework.”
“We are angry,” UFC-Que Choisir said in a statement after the ruling was made public. “The analysis carried out by the judges is disappointing. We believe that this decision does not reflect the seriousness of the issues we raised.”
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