Mineral water as another rising drinking water subdivision after natural water, pure water, and is regarded as the future of industry development, even the original industry giants are vigorously layout. Recently, however, a mineral water was detected to contain potential carcinogens.
10 yuan a bottle, exposed to bromate exceeding the standard
This time, the accident was Bamariang mineral water, which claimed to be from the "land of longevity". In the Notice on the Non-conformity of 12 Batches of Food issued by the Jiangsu Provincial Market Supervision Bureau (No. 33 of 2021), the drinking natural mineral water (500mL/bottle, Parmelilang, 2020-12-04) produced by the nominal Guangxi Bama Lilang Beverage Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Bama Lilang") sold by Wuxi Auchan Supermarket Co., Ltd.) does not meet the requirements of the national standard for food safety.
The Bamariang brand may not be familiar to everyone, but there are many names. As can be found on Baidu Encyclopedia, Guangxi Bama Lilang Beverage Co., Ltd., a manufacturer of Bama Lilang mineral water, was established in 2006 and was awarded "National Geographical Indication Protected Product", "Guangxi Famous Trademark" and "Guangxi Famous Brand Product" in 2012; "China Well-known Trademark" in 2013; became the "China Famous Water" in 2013-2015 and 2017-2018; and became the 16th "China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit Special Water" in 2019. Nankai University's centennial celebration designated drinking water", won the second prize in the finals of the National Brand Story Competition...
There are many famous names, and it is also one of the high-end mineral water brands in China, and the product price of 500ml is 10 yuan a bottle, such a price is not low, worthy of the high-end two words.
Under the support of so many famous people, Bamariang mineral water is still in trouble. Among them, the substance bromate that exceeds the standard was preliminarily sorted out and referred to in the list of carcinogens published by the International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization on October 27, 2017, and potassium bromate was in the list of class 2B carcinogens. The International Center for Research on Cancer (IARC) believes that potassium bromate has a carcinogenic effect on laboratory animals, but the carcinogenic effect of bromate on humans is not yet certain, so it lists bromate as a substance that may be carcinogenic to humans.
The national standard "Drinking Natural Mineral Water" (GB 8537-2008) stipulates that the bromate content in natural mineral water ≤ 0.01mg/L. The test of Bamariang has been added to 0.016mg/L.
And it is worth noting that this time the test is that the product production date is December 4, 2020, and it has been in the market for more than half a year. Although there are media reports that Bamariang has recalled batches of mineral water, the impact left behind cannot be eliminated. Moreover, this is not the first time that Bamariang has had an accident.
Three times in three years, where do carcinogens come from?
Prior to this incident, Parmelione had already had two bromate exceedations.
✍On June 25, 2018, Bama Lilang was already punished by the former Guangxi Hechi Food and Drug Administration for exceeding the food safety standard for its bromate content;
✍In June 2020, a batch of Bama Lilang drinking natural mineral water, which was sold by Shangqiu Bodu Trading Co., Ltd. and nominally produced by Guangxi Bama Lilang Beverage Co., Ltd., was issued by the Henan Provincial Market Supervision Bureau, and the bromate detection value was 0.011mg/L.
All three times it was bromate. As a mineral water company, such problems occur again and again, and it is worth paying attention to whether there are problems in the internal safety monitoring and production links of the enterprise itself.
Under normal conditions, bromate does not appear in water, and is generally some bromide. However, when water is disinfected with ozone, bromide reacts with ozone, forming bromate. This is what the International Center for Research on Cancer believes may cause people to be carcinogenic.
One appearance is accidental, but three times the same problem occurs, then whether there is a loophole in Bamariang itself, whether there is an oversight in technology, whether there is imperfection, and whether the same problem will still occur in the next step. These may be the problems that Bama Lilang will face next, and they will also be problems that need to be solved urgently.
Itself advertises health and longevity, but in the end it has planted a heel in safety, what will be waiting for Bama Lilang?
Cocoon yourself, don't take food safety as a joke
The emergence of the Bama Lilang incident will affect not only itself, but the development of the entire industry. Mineral water itself relies on its own health attributes and product differentiation policies to stand out from the original drinking water category and become a subdivision category recognized by consumers. In the past decade, mineral water sales have risen rapidly, reaching 34.787 billion in 2019.
Now that brands of mineral water that advertise health have been found to be potential carcinogens, it is certain that consumers' future panic about the Bamariang brand is lasting. In particular, the market of Bama Lilang itself has been relatively extensive, and the sales outlets radiate throughout the country.
And the same problem doesn't just exist in Bamariang, but in the entire industry. According to industry insiders, the process of ozone disinfection originated from the 1995 version of the national standard of "Drinking Natural Mineral Water". However, in 2008 the standard had been revised to remove the colony index and to add a bromate (limit indicator) content of no more than 0.01 mg/L in water.
Although the standard has been changed, many enterprise processes and equipment still continue the original standard and have not been innovated. Now that Bama Lilang has exposed the problem, how many manufacturers have not exposed the problem and still continue the original standard?
On July 13, Ba Ma Lilang issued a statement on its official website that after the Jiangsu Provincial Market Supervision Bureau applied for re-inspection, the re-inspection results still did not meet the national food safety standards. Bama Lilang also announced the upgrade and rectification adjustments made in response to quality problems.
But a statement can not solve anything, after all, food safety is no small matter, related to the health and safety of every consumer, buy products because of the trust in the brand. 10 yuan to buy a bottle of water, but the company can not even guarantee the most fundamental process, equipment innovation, even the latest national standards can not be reached, who dares to continue to buy it?
From: Food, public information