Bottled water in Central Minnesota must comply with sections 31, 101, subdivision 8 of the Minnesota Statutes and be labeled in accordance with points A to L. Labels must meet legal requirements to guarantee that they accurately reflect the product's source, content, quality and uses. For instance, if the bottle label states “spring water”, then the water must come from a spring. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for regulating bottled water products and making sure they are safe to drink.
The FDA inspects bottled water plants as part of its general food safety program and has states carry out some inspections of the plants under contract. The FDA also sets limits for lead in public drinking water at 15 parts per billion (ppb). Therefore, the source labeling requirement imposed by the federal standard is generic, not specific, and applies only to water in a community water system. The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) believes that the following set of principles should guide the industry in addressing bottled water labels and labeling. These principles include providing consumers with information about their specific brand of bottled water, including a company contact (with a phone number or address) on the label. In addition, IBWA member companies also include a telephone number on all patented brands to make it even easier for consumers to access information about their bottled water. Bottled water producers are widely regulated by the FDA and are required to monitor and analyze numerous microbiological, physical and chemical contaminants.
For the production of bottled water, bottlers must follow the CGMP standards, which are specific to the processing and bottling of drinking water, established and enforced by the FDA. The FDA describes bottled water as water intended for human consumption and sealed in bottles or other containers with no added ingredients, except that it may contain safe and suitable antimicrobial agents. This information, together with bottled water quality standards, provides consumers with the material data needed to trust bottled water. In conclusion, there are certain restrictions on what type of labels can be used for bottling water in Central Minnesota. These labeling requirements are established to ensure that labels accurately reflect the product's source, content, quality and uses. Furthermore, these regulations guarantee that bottled water is safe to drink and meets all safety standards set by the FDA.
