Pepsi To Admit Aquafina Made From Tap Water

Pepsi Admits Aquafina Made From Tap Water

Aquafina labels to spell out source - tap water
By Martinne Geller
Thu Jul 26, 2007

NEW YORK (Reuters) - PepsiCo Inc. will spell out that its Aquafina bottled water is made with tap water, a concession to the growing environmental and political opposition to the bottled water industry.

According to Corporate Accountability International, a U.S. watchdog group, the world's No. 2 beverage company will include the words "Public Water Source" on Aquafina labels.

"If this helps clarify the fact that the water originates from public sources, then it's a reasonable thing to do," said Michelle Naughton, a Pepsi-Cola North America spokeswoman.

Pepsi Chief Executive Indra Nooyi told Reuters earlier this week the company was considering such a move.

Pepsi's Aquafina and Coca-Cola Co's Dasani are both made from purified water sourced from public reservoirs, as opposed to Danone's Evian or Nestle's Poland Spring, so-called "spring waters," shipped from specific locations the companies say have notably clean water.

Coca-Cola Co. told Reuters it will start posting online information about the quality control testing it performs on Dasani by the end of summer or early fall.

"Concerns about the bottled-water industry, and increasing corporate control of water, are growing across the country," said Gigi Kellett, director of the "Think Outside the Bottle" campaign, which aims to encourage people to drink tap water.

San Francisco's mayor banned city employees from using city funds to buy bottled water when tap water is available. Ann Arbor, Michigan passed a resolution banning commercially bottled water at city events and Salt Lake City, Utah asked department heads to eliminate bottled water.

Critics charge the bottled water industry adds plastic to landfills, uses too much energy by producing and shipping bottles across the world and undermines confidence in the safety and cleanliness of public water supplies, all while much of the world's population is without access to clean water.

But industry observers said such opposition is unlikely to drain U.S. sales of bottled water, which reached 2.6 billion cases in 2006, according to Beverage Digest. The industry newsletter estimated that U.S. consumers spent about $15 billion on bottled water last year.

"Consumers have an affection for bottled water. It's not an issue of taste or health, it's about convenience," the newsletter's publisher, John Sicher, said. "Try walking up (New York City's) Third Avenue on a hot day and getting a glass of tap water."

Dave Kolpak, a portfolio manager at Victory Capital Management, said the environmental objections will have little impact on the bottom line for either Pepsi or Coke, though he admitted it could slow the market's growth rate.

"Pepsi and Coke do not make a lot of profit" on bottled water, said Kolpak, adding that people may talk about the issue, but will likely continue buying some bottled water. Victory Capital owns about 3 million shares of PepsiCo among its $62 billion under management.
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It'a about time these liars fessed up, but notice that nowhere did they state they would stop making bottled water and contributing to the millions of pounds of plastic waste in this country every year. They think admitting they lied is now "environmentally responsible" enough even though they will continue to do business as usual regarding how they come about this "public source" water and how they package it. I sure hope their profits take a BIG hit.

It's so good to know however, that pressure is building on these corporations to admit their deceptions. I just hope people are savvy enough on the whole to understand that "public source" means tap water. Let's face it, even regarding how they are wording it they get a free ride.

I suppose people like me with blogs and those taking other action will just have to keep telling that truth to awaken people to the grand deception of these companies to use our most precious resource for their own profit at the expense of our environment and the lives of those who in many countries around this world have no potable water because these companies take it from them in order to get their product in the first place. I think they should also be legally bound to note on their bottles WHERE that source is and what that plastic bottle will do to our planet once it is thrown out by the consumer. That should be next on the agenda.