Six batches of bottled water have been withdrawn from supermarkets after bacteria were detected.
In a statement issued today, soft drinks company Shannon Minerals said it was notified on November 27th that traces of coliform bacteria were detected in the batches of water.
Shannon Minerals said it had decided to withdraw the products from sale so as not to contravene new regulations. It said it had not been told about the change in the laws.
The company said the levels of bacteria posed no risk to the public and were “well within the limits” allowed by the HSE in the guidelines issued to it and enforced until November 27th, 2008.
It added no faecal coliform contamination was found in the water.
Shannon Minerals said it had been manufacturing these products under guidelines issued to the company by the HSE for the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) in October 2007 but that the results received in November 2008 were tested against a different set of criteria.
“This new set of criteria was never brought to the attention of Shannon Minerals Ltd prior to 27th November 2008. Shannon Minerals Ltd was at no time advised that these guidelines were no longer in effect, yet the HSE decided to enforce the changes retrospectively.”
The affected products were produced in accordance with the guidelines received in October 2007, the bottling company said.
The statement added that a report in a national newspaper this morning “incorrectly states” that the FSAI ordered the trade withdrawal of the affected products. It added this withdrawal was taken “at considerable financial cost” to the company.
Last November, the FSAI said Irish consumers should not be concerned about the quality and safety of bottled waters on the market. The statement comes after a media report that claimed high levels of contamination were found in bottled waters surveyed by the State’s food safety watchdog.
The FSAI said its draft report on the safety of bottled natural mineral water, spring water and other waters in 2007 revealed that 1 per cent of the waters surveyed had traces of E.coli and 6.3 per cent were found to contain coliforms.
Coliforms are a group of bacteria that indicate standards of hygiene at the water source or during the bottling process are poor. The FSAI has said the presence of coliforms in bottled water does not necessarily indicate a risk to consumer health.
