Over the course of the last several years, we have been reducing the plastic in our bottles and caps, making our packaging lighter and more environmentally friendly. In particular, the bottle and cap on our half-liter product have the least amount of plastic, with the cap for this size product smaller than other caps. In light of that, we have applied the following label statement: WARNING: Cap is a small part and poses a CHOKING HAZARD, particularly for children. We have a similar label statement on our 24-ounce (700ml) sports bottle, due to the small parts in that cap.
Consumers should be advised that small parts, including our caps, should not be put in the mouth. And, that caps should always be replaced securely on bottles when not in use or discarded promptly.
Nestlé Waters North America provides consumers of all ages with a variety of healthful, on-the-go beverage options to enjoy any time of day. The safety and quality of our bottled water products are our top priorities. We regularly conduct tests on all of our bottles and our waters for safety, quality and performance.
Water Source Identification: Nestlé Waters North America identifies water sources on its bottle labels and/or online.
Purified water products are treated by reverse osmosis, UV and ozone disinfection for added safety assurance and enhanced with minerals for consistent and pleasing taste. Bottled water products from each Nestlé Waters North America bottling line are tested 200 times per day to ensure quality.
Quality Reports: Since 2005, we have made quality reports publicly available for all of our bottled water brands based on independent testing results from certified laboratories.
Easy Consumer Access to Information: Consumer questions and comments can be directed to our toll-free number, which is listed on the label of each bottle.
Storage and Handling
To maintain the high quality of our bottled water products, we recommend people store all of our products in a cool, clean, or shaded location, as they would any other packaged food product.
Food Packaging Safety & Regulation
We use packaging that fits into the lifestyles of today’s busy consumers and is considered safe by regulatory and public health agencies. We evaluate new packaging materials and make changes to our products when we believe there is a clear environmental, health and/or economic benefit.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for overseeing the safety of bottled water, which, like other food products such as infant formula and seafood, must be processed, packaged, shipped and stored in a safe and sanitary manner, and be truthfully and accurately labeled. Bottled water is one of the most regulated food products, with FDA protocols specific to bottled water processing and labeling.
Chemicals from plastic packaging can migrate over time, but the FDA sets conservative limits for the amounts it considers safe for human consumption. Nestlé Waters North America complies with the FDA’s packaging and health-based regulations.
Recycling and Reuse of Bottles
We recommend that our water bottles be recycled, not reused. Every bottle produced by Nestlé Waters North America is recyclable.
All of our “single-serve” bottles from 8 ounces to 3 liter that are made from non-recycled PET #1 plastic, as well as our 1 gallon and 2.5 gallon bottles made from non-recycled HDPE #2 plastic, are completely BPA-free. Additionally, all of our 3-gallon and 5-gallon bottles are made of PET #1 plastic, which is BPA-free.
Our rPET bottles are made from recycled PET plastic that is carefully collected, screened and sorted to keep other types of plastics from entering the rPET manufacturing process. Given the nature and variability of the recycling streams, however, a small fraction of rPET bottles may contain trace levels of other types of plastics, which, in turn, could result in trace levels of BPA in the low parts per trillion range. For this reason, we consider our rPET bottles virtually BPA free.