Contaminated Perrier water: the State accused of "cover-up"

Did the government protect Nestlé, maker of the famous Perrier ? The manufacturer allegedly had a Regional Health Agency report amended, criticizing the quality of its water with the approval of the public authorities. This is what a Senate inquiry published on Monday, May 19, claims. As proof, a document that, in its first version, mentions the presence of E. coli and enterococci bacteria between 2020 and 2023. But in the final version, it is noted that the samples were compliant 97% of the time.

This list of pesticides found in the water also disappeared from the final report. To amend this report, Nestlé first contacted the ARS (French Agency for Health and Safety), which refused. According to the senators' investigation, the company then contacted the Ministries of Health and Industry, who agreed with the group and asked the ARS to amend the document. According to one of the senators, who consulted emails, these prove that the government accepted this situation for economic reasons.

Watch the full report in the video above