So Nestle sold water contaminated with fecal bacteria and pesticides
and marketed it as natural mineral water
under brands like Perrier and Vittel.
And they sold this water in 150 countries for 15 years,
totaling over $3 billion in fraud.
And this guy tried to cover it up.
European law is crystal clear.
Natural mineral water has to be pure at the source.
That means no filtering, no treatment,
nothing. And it's supposed to come straight from underground springs
and be so clean that you can drink it.
But Nestle's water was not clean.
Tests found E. Coli,
which is fecal bacteria, as well as banned pesticides linked to cancer
and these forever chemicals known as PFAS at their Perrier,
Vittel contracts and APAR plants.
So what did Nestle do? Well,
they installed illegal filtration systems,
that's UV lights, activated carbon filters
and micro filtration to clean the contaminated water,
which would be a good thing,
but they sold it as natural so customers would still pay a premium.
Well, eventually,
Nestle routed themselves out
and told the French government that they've been breaking the law.
And the Director General of health,
that's Jeremy Salomon, reviewed the evidence and sent a memo
recommending that they immediately suspend authorization
for all Nestle water sites,
even confirming viralogical risks,
meaning you could get hepatitis a,
norovirus or adenovirus in the water.
Now, one hour after receiving the memo,
the government held a secret meeting
and overruled their own health director
giving Nestle permission. To keep using the illegal filters.
Now, Salomon later called it a kind of blackmail
because Nestle refused to provide water sampling locations
until the government approved their illegal methods.
And in April 2024,
Nestle had to destroy over 2 million bottles of Perrier
after heavy rains revealed fecal contamination.
So CEO
Mark Schneider
was earning nearly $14 million a year selling poo water
and the French government let him do it.
Nestle ended up paying roughly $2.5 million to settle fraud charges
for this natural mineral water,
which is only 0.0067% of the $3 billion they made
selling fake mineral water for 15 years.
And consumer group Food Watch called it ideal to bury the case.
And Nestle still makes over $4 billion a year from its water division
selling Perrier, Vittel and San Pellegrino in 150 countries worldwide.
So until we demand that regulators serve citizens
instead of mega corporations,
two and a half million dollars is a slap on the wrist
and it'll simply be the cost of doing business.
And they will keep poisoning us with contaminated water
at a premium price unless we say something.
Look, I'm a gut specialist,
but I tell you these stories to remind you that the system
does not care about you,
that you need to be informed so you know who you can and cannot trust.
Make sure to follow for more stories that the system
doesn't want you to hear.