Bottled Water Producers Riding the Wave

When it comes to bottled water, has anyone ever stopped to think that there are many quality control and safety inspections for every bottle of water? Or did you think someone filled the bottle from the nearest faucet? Think again.

The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) together with the Beverage Marketing Corporation (BMC) has released the bottled water statistics for 2006. U.S. bottled waters sales and consumption is on the rise. The numbers are increasing of consumers that choose bottled water over other beverages.

The bottled water volume has exceeded 8.25 billion gallons, which is a 9.5 percent increase over 2005. In addition, wholesale dollars for bottled water has increased to $10.8 billion in 2006, which is an 8.5 percent increase of 2005. Consumers have an increased demand and appreciate the convenience and good taste of bottled water. They prefer the bottled water when running errands, exercising, jogging, at restaurants, meetings and even at their home offices.

Consumers may like to know that bottled water goes through rigorous safety and quality control. There are multiple layers of regulations and standards at federal, state and industry levels. Bottled water is regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is recognized as a packaged food product. The stringent standards are for safety, quality, production, labeling, and identity and inspectors hire third parties to conduct unannounced inspections of manufacturing plants. Bottled water has other regulations including Standards of Identity, Standards of Quality and additional standard Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) and being that bottled water is considered Nutrition Labeling Education Act (NLEA) also binds a packaged food product in addition to FDA protective measures. There are also state regulations for bottled water; inspections, sampling, analyzing and approving bottled water sources. In addition testing laboratory certification is sometimes another way states regulate bottled water.

Consumers prefer bottled water instead of others that could possibly contain calories, caffeine, sugar, artificial colors, alcohol or other ingredients. During 2006 the 1.5 liters and smaller accounted for 57.1 percent of the volume of bottled water sold. All beverages have their role in a marketplace with many drink choices however it seems bottled water wins out according to Stephen R. Kay, IBWA Vice President of Communications.

For more information on bottled water, regulations and standards visit the IBWA website at http://www.bottledwater.org.