The importance of water quality in food and beverages

By: Andy Eaton - Eurofins US

Water constitutes over 90% of most beverages, and water quality can have a significant impact on taste, and can also be important in brand protection. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates bottled water in the United States, but only has limited requirements for monitoring water as an ingredient in foods (mainly microbial safety). Globally, the monitoring requirements and acceptance limits vary tremendously among the primary regulators - the USEPA, the EU, and WHO. This makes it difficult for a multi-national company to maintain uniform standards across the globe. Companies need to protect their brands, and be aware of emerging contaminant issues.

Furthermore, multi-national companies have to rely on water from a variety of sources, some with more documented water quality data than others. In the United States, even though municipal water may be the primary source for most food manufacturers, the amount of water quality data available may be severely limited, due to the waivers available to the Authorities. With the expansion of water re-use, the challenges of maintaining quality become even more significant.

There have been numerous issues in the past decade where lack of sound information on water quality has had a major impact on food manufacturers. A few years ago, the City of Los Angeles discovered that their water contained nearly ten times the permissible level of bromate, which caused a major beverage manufacturer to switch their water treatment to reverse osmosis. Similarly, a multi-national company in India was accused of having pesticides in their product. Due to the lack of monitoring on the source it was difficult to refute. In the US Municipalities, changes to chlorination practices caused supply of water containing high levels of chlorate, a WHO regulated disinfection byproduct, which is not yet regulated in the United States.

Eurofins has assisted several of the major multi-nationals who rely on water as a key component of their product to establish their own standards and monitoring programs to protect their brand from these emerging issues, and offers a range of comprehensive testing.

Contact: AndyEaton@eurofinsus.com