THE FOOD Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has moved to reassure consumers about the quality and safety of bottled water after a leaked report found high levels of contamination in Irish bottled water brands.
However, the authority refused yesterday to identify the manufacturers selling the contaminated water, and defended its failure to publish the evidence of widespread contamination of bottled water almost a year after environmental health officers gathered the evidence.
According to the FSAI report, 1 per cent of bottled water tested in the last four months of 2007 contained E.coli, an indicator of faecal contamination, and 6.3 per cent contained coliforms. The Irish Independentalso reported that 7.2 per cent, or one bottle in 16, failed to comply with legal or EU requirements.
The FSAI said consumers should not be worried about the bottled water they buy because any issues identified during sampling last year were corrected immediately, with a number of products withdrawn from the market and corrective action taken by the industry.
FSAI chief executive John O'Brien said he was happy with his agency's response and denied keeping "schtum" about the results. "There is no risk to public health and no safety issue involved here," he said. It took time to collate the data for the report, which would be published "soon".
However, Fine Gael accused the FSAI of failing in its duty to provide independent analysis of food safety and keep the public safe and secure. Labour said the results were alarming and called for the "naming and shaming" of the companies whose products were contaminated.
The country's leading water bottler, Ballygowan, issued a statement claiming none of its products featured on the list of contaminated water, an assertion the FSAI would neither confirm nor deny yesterday. The authority says no problems have been found during testing of bottled water on sale in shops, vending machines, pubs, hotels and restaurants in the first half of this year.
Mr O'Brien claimed the 2007 report was a summary of "historic enforcement activity" and related to "actions taken in the past".
"Corrective actions are taken at the time. We do not wait until a report is compiled - if foods are found that are not compliant with the food safety legislation, then immediate action is taken."
While it was "concerning" that E.coli bacteria were found in 10 of the 952 samples taken, he said appropriate follow-up action was taken. The presence of coliforms in 6.3 per cent of samples raised concerns about the standards of hygiene of the water source or bottling process, but did not "necessarily" indicate a health risk .
The FSAI was "unequivocally" on the side of consumers, he said, but had to act proportionately to keep its confidence.
"Any breach is unacceptable and we are satisfied that appropriate actions have been taken. Industry acted responsibly and where problems were identified, the product was withdrawn and processes rectified."
The FSAI regularly issues closure orders against food outlets found to have committed serious breaches of food hygiene. In these cases, the authority publishes the names of offenders even in cases where the breaches have been remedied. However, it didn't follow this approach with the bottled water manufacturers.
Ballygowan said it was unhelpful that the FSAI report grouped all bottled water brands together as this had the potential to cause confusion and present a distorted picture of the industry.
The company said it hoped the report would not shake consumer confidence in the industry.
Fine Gael food spokesman Andrew Doyle said it was completely unacceptable that consumers were kept in the dark about the test results. The FSAI had serious questions to answer.