New National Standard for Packaged Drinking Water Expected to Be Published and Implemented by the End of the Year

Lead-in: Health and safety problems with bottled water occur frequently, and the "bacteria scandal" incident some time ago again raised doubts about the quality of bottled water. In past spot checks of bottled water, "total bacterial count" has consistently been the worst-hit area of non-compliance. But perhaps all of this will be readily resolved after the new national standard for packaged drinking water takes effect.

A few days ago, the new national standard "National Food Safety Standard - Packaged Drinking Water" was reviewed and approved at the tenth directors' meeting of the National Food Safety Standard Review Committee. Among the changes, the surprising one is this: the testing indicator for total bacterial count has been removed!

West China microbiology expert: good bacteria can be present, "zero tolerance" for bad bacteria

For a long time, terms such as bacteria and total bacterial count have been regarded by many people as harmful and something to be avoided at all costs. So why did the new national standard delete this testing indicator? The real fact is this: bacteria are divided into good and bad, and the human body cannot do without good bacteria!

According to Professor Li Zaiming of the Second Affiliated Hospital of West China University of Medical Sciences, human beings have always lived in a world of coexistence with bacteria, and even part of our bodies is made up of bacteria; it can be said that without bacteria, humans could not survive. There are many kinds of bacteria, but the vast majority are beneficial to the human body, and only a very small number of "pathogenic bacteria" are harmful to humans.

It is precisely for this reason that the new national standard deleted the testing indicator for total bacterial count and added a testing indicator for pathogenic bacteria. Professor Li made an analogy: if the total bacterial count in drinking water is compared to the number of people, then the new national standard, regardless of how many people there are, pays no attention to the good people and only goes after the bad ones - "zero tolerance" for pathogenic bacteria.

China Consumers Association rights protection expert: removing the total bacterial count test in the new national standard is more responsible

In response, Yang Yonglan, a rights protection expert at the China Consumers Association, said that the new national standard draws on and refers to multiple standards including those of the World Health Organization and the European Union, and that the new national standard stipulates that for any pathogenic bacteria, even a single one makes the product non-compliant. This is not only a safeguard of consumer health, but also provides strong support for consumers' rights protection.

Therefore Yang Yonglan believes that the new national standard for packaged drinking water is both responsible for consumer health and gives consumers rules to follow in protecting their rights. They expressed the hope that this new national standard, which has already been reviewed and approved, will be officially published and implemented as soon as possible.

Bottled water remains "safe and healthy drinking water"

In recent years, out of concern about various kinds of water pollution, many families have begun to drink bottled water or to use bottled water for cooking. Bottled water, especially bottled mineral water, has also been praised by many experts as "safe and healthy drinking water".

Due to the rapid growth of the bottled water industry, some unfair market competition practices once appeared. The new national standard for packaged drinking water, which has now been reviewed and approved and is about to be published and implemented, has properly resolved the disputes over disorderly market competition. Professor Li Fuxing, a renowned Chinese expert on drinking water issues, believes that the new national standard will enable bottled water to completely shake off the troubles of the "bacteria scandal" and maintain its position as "safe and healthy drinking water". Now, and even for decades to come (before environmental pollution and water pollution are fundamentally improved), bottled water will still be a good guarantee for people's drinking water health.

——This article is reprinted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn). Original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-361801.html