Bottled Water Challenge

Consumers' thirst for bottled water unquenchable

By KIM PAINTER
Gannett News Service
Article published Apr 18, 2006

Our love affair with bottled water is no fling: It's a growing, long-term relationship. Sales of bottled water rose 9 percent in 2005, continuing a steady trend. Since 2003, the only beverages with higher sales have been carbonated soft drinks, the Beverage Marketing Corp. says.

But is this relationship healthy?

Water, of course, is good for us. Though a 2004 Institute of Medicine report said most people are getting enough fluid — from water, foods and other beverages — some people need more. It's also possible, though unproved, that drinking water aids weight loss. And water intoxication — from drinking too much — is rare, except among water-guzzling marathon athletes.

Bottled vs. tap

So if increased sales of bottled water mean we're drinking more water — especially in place of sugary sodas and other high-calorie, low-nutrient drinks — that's a fine thing. But it's not clear that's happening. People could just be replacing tap with bottled water, a possible trend that rankles environmentalists (because bottles become trash) and people who are concerned about commercialization of a basic resource. After all, most bottled waters are sold by companies like Pepsi (Aquafina) and Coca-Cola (Dasani).

Many are simply filtered tap water, and none has any special, proven health benefits. A 2005 survey from American Rivers, a clean-water advocacy group, found 59 percent of respondents nationwide drank both tap and bottled water, 16 percent drank only bottled and 25 percent drank only tap.

But “we don't have anything to indicate whether tap water consumption is going up or down,” says Jack Hoffbuhr, executive director of the American Water Works Association. “We do want people to know tap water is every bit as safe as bottled water. In fact, it's tested more.” Makers of bottled water are just as quick to say that their products are safe and well regulated.

What's being added?

Assuming that both kinds of water are essentially safe (though both have had lapses), consumers choosing bottled water still need to consider how it differs.

First, the most popular brands don't contain fluoride, which is important for dental health. Most fluoridated tap water - despite reports of a few local systems with too much natural fluoride — provides a safe and effective amount, says Jack Stamm, a professor at the University of North Carolina School of Dentistry and a spokesman for the American Dental Association.

Some dentists worry that an increase in early childhood tooth decay might be linked to less tap water consumption, Stamm says. But, he says, dentists are more worried about what many children are drinking instead: sugary sodas and juice drinks.

Which brings us to what some bottled “water beverages” have that tap water does not: sugar, artificial sweeteners and calories. Though traditional bottled water is free of such additives, a newer, growing category blurs the line between water and soft drinks.

Pepsi's Propel Fitness Water contains sucrose syrup (sugar), sucralose (artificial sweetener Splenda) and 10 calories per 8 ounces, along with some vitamins. And Capri Sun's Roarin' Waters Fruit Flavored Water Beverage — with a label boasting “Finally, a great-tasting water beverage kids will love to drink” — has 35 calories per 6.75-ounce pouch and a very sweet taste (to this adult), thanks to high-fructose corn syrup and sucralose. In other words, it's a reduced-calorie fruit drink, apparently made for children who expect all drinks, even water, to be sweet.