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NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION CHALLENGES COKE, NESTLÉ AND PEPSI People across U.S. demand bottled water meet same standards as tap For Immediate Release: Contact: BOSTON -- Hundreds of students and religious activists across the country are calling on Coca-Cola, Nestlé and Pepsi to demand water quality information about bottled water comparable to reports provided by public water utilities. The calls are part of Corporate Accountability International's Think Outside the Bottle Campaign, which challenges the marketing myths and political power of bottled water corporations. Three out of four Americans drink bottled water and one in five Americans drink only bottled water. "This dangerous trend is being fueled by misleading marketing," says Corporate Accountability International Associate Campaigns Director Gigi Kellett. "Corporations like Coke, Nestlé and Pepsi spend tens of millions of dollars every year to undermine people's confidence in tap water, even though bottled water is less regulated and sometimes less safe." Many people do not realize the FDA does not directly test and monitor most bottled water, including Coke's Dasani, Nestlé's Poland Springs and Pepsi's Aquafina. Instead, it relies on bottled water corporations to do voluntary testing and self-monitoring. "This is a dangerous formula," says Kellett. Groups mobilizing their members to participate in the National Day of Action include: The Polaris Institute, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), college campuses spanning the country from San Francisco State University to Tufts University, and dozens of faith communities. Activists want Coke, Nestlé, and Pepsi to reveal the water sources and sites they use for bottling, publicly report breaches in bottled water quality (comparable to the quality reports of public water systems), and stop threatening local control of water when siting and operating bottled water plants. According to the United Nations, two-thirds of the world's people won't have access to enough water by 2025. In the face of limited water supplies, corporations are increasingly seeking to turn water into a profit-driven commodity. Supplying water is already a $420 billion annual business. Corporate Accountability International works with people and organizations around the world to protect people's access to water as a human right. That work includes promoting international legal instruments, such as a U.N. treaty. # # # Corporate Accountability International, formerly Infact, is a membership organization that protects people by waging and winning campaigns challenging irresponsible and dangerous corporate actions around the world. For over 25 years, we've forced corporations -- like Nestlé, General Electric and Philip Morris/Altria -- to stop abusive actions. For more information visit www.stopcorporateabuse.org.
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