Nestlé fined by Swiss canton for illegally filtered water
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Nestlé fined by Swiss canton for illegally filtered water
Nestlé has been fined CHF500,000 ($620,000) in its home canton of Vaud for the unauthorised use of activated carbon filters in the production of mineral water. The filters were used to produce Henniez water from 2008 to 2022.
This was announced by the Vaud public prosecutor’s office on Wednesday. The use of activated carbon filters means that Henniez should not have been sold as mineral water, it added.
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The violation was discovered in May 2020 during an inspection by the Food Safety and Consumer Protection (OFCO) of the canton of Vaud. As Nestlé Waters was unsuccessful with its application for an exemption licence, the filters had to be removed by the end of 2022, which was then done.
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The Nestlé story
According to the information provided, the OFCO authority filed a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office in April 2024, as Nestlé Waters had violated the provisions of Article 29 of the Federal Act on Foodstuffs. The inspectors had been misled about the use of the activated carbon filter. They also found that consumers had been deceived by the unauthorised mention of mineral water on the packaging.
The public prosecutor Eric Kaltenrieder came to the conclusion that consumers had been deceived by the use of the term mineral water. This had given Nestlé an economic advantage, which was to be compensated by the claim for compensation.
However, the fine also takes into account the fact that the filtration was not harmful to consumers. In addition, Nestlé Waters had cooperated extensively with the authorities.
Adapted from German by DeepL/ac
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