FRANCEINFO SURVEY. After contamination of several wells, Perrier suspended production of its one-liter bottles

“Perrier, the water that spritzes”, “Perrier, it’s crazy!” The slogans imagined for the Nestlé group’s sparkling water brand, operated for more than 160 years on the Vergèze site, in Gard, have perhaps never been so relevant. Indeed, according to information from World and from the investigation unit of Radio France, after learning in April of the shutdown of one of the plant’s wells following the occurrence of an episode of contamination, it appears that two other catchments have recently undergone disinfection operations having impacted production activities.

Questioned on this point by the Radio France investigation unit, the Nestlé group mentioned a “regular maintenance operation”. Two other boreholes, subject to regular contamination, have permanently stopped producing the Perrier brand. But the company obtained the right by prefectural decree to devote them to the production of a new carbonated drink called Maison Perrier, which no longer benefits from the name natural mineral water.

Of the seven wells operated just a few months ago to produce the Perrier brand, a majority are now either dedicated to the production of another brand, suspended, or out of service. Direct consequence of this situation: according to our information, the company has temporarily stopped the production of one-liter bottles of “Perrier vert”, which represents the largest volumes of the brand. A situation which should last at least until the end of summer. To maintain its presence in stores during the months of July and August, the brand is increasing the number of small formats, according to a source close to the matter. In a press release, the Perrier group affirmed on Friday that “the production of Perrier vert 1 liter is not stopped. We will return with a better capacity to serve our products as soon as these operations are completed, and after a phase of reconstitution of our stocks.”

An unannounced visit also took place in the factory on May 30, at the initiative of the regional health agency (ARS) of Occitanie and the departmental directorate for population protection (DDPP). That day, eight inspectors conducted, under the watchful eye of the firm’s lawyers, a meticulous inspection of the plant, its drilling and its water quality self-monitoring laboratory, as well as the label control operations. The results of this inspection have not yet been made public.

The suspension of two drillings for disinfection took place even though on April 19, the prefect of Gard had asked the firm to immediately suspend the exploitation of another catchment, called “Romaine VIII”, the latter having presented “an episode of contamination over several days by germs witnessing contamination of fecal origin”which can “pose a risk to the health of consumers”. State services had also ordered the destruction of a batch of at least two million bottles of Perrier. But according to our information this figure was closer to three million, which the Nestlé group confirms to us. It now estimates, “after inventory” at 2.9 million the number of bottles destroyed. “These bottles, blocked in application of the precautionary principle, had never been placed on the market”specifies the company.

The health risk, linked to a general deterioration in the quality of Nestlé’s water tables, on the Vergèze site but also in the Vosges where the Hépar, Contrex and Vittel brands are drawn, had been known to the government for years. The firm had in fact admitted to the cabinet of Agnès Pannier-Runacher, then Minister Delegate for Industry, during a confidential meeting in Bercy in August 2021, to having resorted to illicit treatments (UV filters, carbon filters, microfiltration), to conceal the chronic, bacteriological and chemical contamination of its water bodies.

Since then, several alerts have confirmed the materiality of this risk. We see this in particular in a report that remained confidential until the publication of the investigation by World and the investigation unit of Radio France. In this document, submitted to the government in July 2022, agents of the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs expressed concern about the withdrawal of illicit treatments, likely “to expose consumers to a health risk, the treatments having been put in place to compensate for a lack of quality of the resource”.

In October, the National Food Safety Agency (ANSES) again alerted the government of a “insufficient level of confidence” to ensure “the health quality of finished products”, that is to say, bottles of water intended for consumers. Anses mentioned the fact that several boreholes on the Vergèze site were “located near potential sources of contamination of anthropogenic origin and were subject to periodic pollution of a microbiological but also physicochemical nature”. As early as June 2023, in a letter sent to Anses, the director of ARS Occitanie, Didier Jaffre, already mentioned a “regular bacteriological contamination of raw water on at least five of the seven authorized boreholes (coliforms, e.coli, enterococci, pseudomonas aeruginosa)”.

After the revelations of World and the investigation unit of Radio France, the Nestlé company assured that it had initiated a plan to transform its factories, in agreement with the authorities. According to regulations, natural mineral waters are in fact supposed to come from resources preserved from any form of pollution. Faced with the widespread degradation of water tables, the authorities are now wondering behind the scenes about the very future of Nestlé’s natural mineral water production activity on its Gard site. The withdrawal of the firm’s operating authorizations, currently under investigation, is no longer excluded. If this were to be confirmed, the Perrier brand could be threatened with disappearance.

Faced with the uncertainty which now weighs on the future of their factory and its 1,000 employees, the unions have, according to our information, activated their right of alert provided for, according to the Labor Code, when the CSE becomes aware “facts likely to have a worrying effect on the economic situation of the company”. Asked about these concerns, the management of the Nestlé group wanted to be reassuring: “We have invested significantly, and will continue to do so, to protect this unique heritage and ensure its future.”

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