A report from the Senate of France released on Monday alleged that the French cabinet covered up the use of illegal treatment methods for mineral water by Nestlé, misleading the public.

EU law imposes strict limits on the treatment methods that can be used for products that are marketed as mineral water. The Senate report alleged that Nestlé uses activated carbon filters and ultraviolet treatments in its Vittel, Hépar, Contrex, and Perrier factories, which are not permitted under EU law.

Under Article 40 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure, it is a criminal offense for any public official not to report an offence that they are aware of to the Director of Public Prosecutions. The report found that as early as August of 2021, the Directorate General for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs, and Fraud Control was made aware of the use of illegal treatment methods. The office of President Emmanuel Macron was also allegedly aware of the practices since 2022.

Although no investigation was commenced at the time, Director of Health Jérôme Salomon’s attempted to make a public report of the allegations, but was blocked by his legal affairs department for the report being outside of his jurisdiction.

Public testimony from Nestle in 2024 stated that “the use of the treatment methods in the past was necessary due to ‘sporadic bacterial or chemical contamination’ caused by ‘faecal contaminations’ in the mineral water supply”.

According to Politico, Nestle lobbied France’s government not to enforce mineral water regulations against the company.

The report was published by a Senate investigative committee led by Laurent Burgoa.