Dasani Bottled Water a Bad Product?

Oct 30, 12:06 PM

A global federation of consumer advocate organizations called Consumers International recently gave out awards for what it deems are the worst consumer products advertised to the public, including (understandably) a sleeping pill geared for children and Coca-Cola’s flagship bottled water product, Dasani.

CI’s gripe with Dasani is that it is bottled from local municipal sources. In other words, tap water.

Of course, this is a slap in the face of many municipal water refineries and suppliers, the implication being that tap water is somehow inferior to natural spring water. However, this is not true. Tap water quality varies, but most tap water is perfectly fine and most folks drink it and enjoy it. Including yours truly.

There is also the implication that Dasani is deceptive in its marketing by offering bottled water which uses local tap water. But there is no claim on the part of Dasani that its water is derived from any natural source. In fact, it’s clearly marked on the bottle that it is purified and mineralized, processes unneeded in natural spring water. There are no pictures of mountains or waterfalls on the packaging used to deceive the consumer. The Dasani website doesn’t even hide the fact where its water comes from nor the process used to render it pure.

So why all the fuss, Consumers International? If water comes in a bottle, it shouldn’t be purified local water? Is tap water that bad? I think maybe it’s Consumers International that’s off in the deep end on this one.