HK council's water safety report kicks up legal row

Nongfu Spring Co Ltd, China's largest bottled water supplier in terms of market share, issued a lawyer's letter to the Consumer Council of Hong Kong on Tuesday, demanding the latter clarify its report on taste, mineral and safety tests on 30 samples of widely consumed bottled water products, including Chinese and foreign brands, and issue an apology to the company and consumers.

The council released a report of the test results on Monday and found that the bromate levels of the bottled water products, including those of Nongfu Spring and Ganten, another Chinese bottled water producer, hit the maximum limit set by the European Union. Ganten said the company's legal department is pursuing the matter.

Bromate, a byproduct formed in the disinfection process, has potential health risks to human bodies when consumed in excess quantities, and may cause nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea.

Hangzhou, Zhejiang province-based Nongfu Spring said in its lawyer's letter that the council's report is based on incorrect understanding and nonprofessional analysis, and a subjective evaluation was made, causing significant damage to the company's reputation.

It claimed that there were three major mistakes in the test report, including the errors in the application of standards, judgment of standards and the subjective misinterpretation. The release of the report caused panic among consumers in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland, and huge losses to Nongfu Spring, the lawyer's letter said.

The Hong Kong Consumer Council said it has received the lawyer's letter and is looking into the issue. It also said it has made it clear earlier it did not find any harmful substances exceeding the World Health Organization's standards in all of the 30 samples and they can be safely consumed. The focus of the report is on the cost-effectiveness of each sample and the impact of bottles on the environment, rather than safety issues with the products.

Nongfu Spring argued that as a product manufactured and sold in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, the laws and regulations of the respective regions should be taken as applicable standards.

The company also claimed that even if EU safety standards were applied, the safety standard for drinking water, instead of natural mineral water, should be applied.

Bromate levels of Nongfu Spring's bottled water reached 3 micrograms per liter, and it is far below the EU standard of 10 micrograms per liter of drinking water. The product quality meets the safety requirements for drinking water in China, the United States, Japan and of the WHO, which is below 10 micrograms per liter, the lawyer's letter said.

"Some food safety standards in Hong Kong have certain differences from those in the Chinese mainland. If we talk about international practice, 3 micrograms of bromate per liter didn't exceed the standard," said Zhu Danpeng, an independent food and beverage industry analyst.

"When domestic food companies go global and internationalize their businesses, they must thoroughly study the local food safety standards," Zhu said.

In 2023, Nongfu Spring achieved sales revenue of 42.67 billion yuan ($5.87 billion), up 28.4 percent year-on-year, which generated a net profit of 12.08 billion yuan, up 42.2 percent year-on-year, according to its annual financial report.

In recent months, Nongfu Spring has cut prices of some of its drinking water products to about 1 yuan per 550-ml bottle. Other industry players such as Hangzhou Wahaha Group and CR Beverage also slashed prices of their bottled drinking water products.