# bottled water



## aykalam

"More than 13 companies had their bottled water production suspended due to contamination of their wells discovered in the past year, says Atef Yaacoub, head of Egypt's Consumer Protection, a fact that has aggravated the shortage."

Egypt's health ministry lists licensed bottled water brands amid shortage fears - Economy - Business - Ahram Online


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## canuck2010

At least they are selling Aquafina again.


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## aykalam

and Nestle are back on again


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## jemiljan

I prefer to get water from Siwa (Hayat and Siwa), as they are local companies, not big, multinational conglomerates. I did see a restaurant hauling in Hayat bottles on Thursday, so that may be why. 15 years ago, I heard that Evian and the others just let the tap water run when the filtration equipment broke down, so friends advocated the water from Siwa. Maybe it was just hype, but life was different back then.


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## Biffy

Sorry - Hayat is Nestle!
So they are a big conglomerate.

But also if you buy from the large bottlers such as Nestle and Pepsi, etc. they apply the same hygiene standards as they would anywhere else in the world - the last thing they want is to get their name (their world wide brand) dragged through the mud for poor hygiene / contaminated products!

The same can't be said for the smaller bottlers - becuase if they have quality issues, to take a financial hit and dump a days production for example - would be a no no.


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## aykalam

Biffy said:


> But also if you buy from the large bottlers such as Nestle and Pepsi, etc. they apply the same hygiene standards as they would anywhere else in the world - the last thing they want is to get their name (their world wide brand) dragged through the mud for poor hygiene / contaminated products!


and yet Aquafina are owned by Pepsi and had to suspend production for a while:

"The production of PepsiCo’s Aquafina bottled water was suspended because it did not meet internal quality standards, according to the April ECA report." 

and who in their right mind would trust Egyptian government to enforce international standards?


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## MaidenScotland

Organic here would not qualify for organic the west.. 

this is an extract of a conversation from a friend who is Egyptian and work in the food industry but not in Egypt but he is the middle east manager, 


we imported once sunflower seeds from egypt and we discovered in belgium that it contains aflatoxins - dangerous carcinogenic material - these seeds were to feed wild bird in winter ...
and we found a solution to send back the goods to egypt and it was cleared from the customs as if it was ok, and the goods were sold to human consumption


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## jemiljan

Biffy said:


> Sorry - Hayat is Nestle!
> So they are a big conglomerate.


Perhaps I'm overlooking something, but there is nothing whatsoever explicitly mentioning this on the Hayat bottles I have- whereas all other companies state as much- nor do I find any evidence searching the web, even on Nestle's website. According to their them, Nestle does own Baraka as well as Nestlé Pure Life. No mention of Hayat.

Otherwise, if someone has heard anything about Siwa water having problems, I'd love to hear about it... I suspect that the same hygiene standards here in Egypt apply to all.

It's just that in principle I trust a well that is WAY the heck out in the middle of the desert more so than one in the Delta (I'm forgetting which bottle I read that on, but it's one of the "big" companies).

Mind you, when this was first suggested to me, water quality issues in Cairo were far more lamentable and dangerous than they are today. Now instead of parasites and tapeworms, you have enough chlorine in a glass of water to disinfect a kiddie pool!


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## aykalam

yes, Baraka is part of Nestle, but Hayat is owned by Al Mansour 

Mansour Holding Company for Financial Investments » Hayat Water


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## jemiljan

MaidenScotland said:


> Organic here would not qualify for organic the west..
> 
> this is an extract of a conversation from a friend who is Egyptian and work in the food industry but not in Egypt but he is the middle east manager,
> 
> we imported once sunflower seeds from egypt and we discovered in belgium that it contains aflatoxins - dangerous carcinogenic material - these seeds were to feed wild bird in winter ...
> and we found a solution to send back the goods to egypt and it was cleared from the customs as if it was ok, and the goods were sold to human consumption


Good to know about this. as it's the first I've heard about aflatoxins. They are a naturally occuring an _aspergillus_ mycotoxin- basically a mold- that is found in much of the world. Apparently it can show up cooking oils, and even in the milk of animals fed contaminated feed!

From Whackypedia:

*A. flavus and A. parasiticus are weedy molds that grow on a large number of substrates, in particular under high moisture conditions. Aflatoxins have been isolated from all major cereal crops, and from sources as diverse as peanut butter and marijuana. The staple commodities regularly contaminated with aflatoxins include cassava, chillies, corn, cotton seed, millet, peanuts, rice, sorghum, sunflower seeds, tree nuts, wheat, and a variety of spices intended for human or animal consumption. When processed, aflatoxins get into the general food supply where they have been found in both pet and human foods, as well as in feedstocks for agricultural animals. Aflatoxin transformation products are sometimes found in eggs, milk products and meat when animals are fed contaminated grains.*

Turns out that we're having a little problem with aflatoxins back home in the US that I hadn't heard about either. Or another one in Europe just a couple of months ago.

The good news is that eating carrots, parsnips (which I've never seen in Egypt), celery, and parsley mitigates the carcinogenic effect.

Finally, regarding your comment on 'organic', I'd like to note that in the US, there is no national standard for organic; the states decide it individually, and they are all over the place. Also, I wrote to both Demeter and the COAE  a while back about their standards here in Egypt (and as I understand, Biodynamic standards generally exceed those for organic). So if there is really and truly anything untoward going on, I'd really like to hear something a little more specific about it. While I'm all for a having a healthy sense of skepticism, but I'm also very much for confirming facts.


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## jemiljan

aykalam said:


> yes, Baraka is part of Nestle, but Hayat is owned by Al Mansour
> 
> Mansour Holding Company for Financial Investments » Hayat Water


Good to know. There are apparently 4 companies bottling water in Siwa. Aside from Hayat, there is Siwa, Aqua Siwa (Sadat Group), and Siwa Aman, but I've only ever seen Hayat and Siwa.


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## aykalam

The government watchdog said that the brands are unfit for consumption since the wells from which they are sourced are unverified.

Head of the CPA Atef Yacoub said that the body had uncovered seven brands being sold without licences: Safa, El-Waha, Ganna, Sahari, Life, El-Wadi, and Zamzam.

Seven unlicensed bottled water brands being sold in Egypt - Economy - Business - Ahram Online


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## jemiljan

jemiljan said:


> Good to know. There are apparently 4 companies bottling water in Siwa. Aside from Hayat, there is Siwa, Aqua Siwa (Sadat Group), and Siwa Aman, but I've only ever seen Hayat and Siwa.


Well, I've now seen both Aqua Siwa and Siwa Aman sold at Khayr az-Zaman.


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## MaidenScotland

NO bottled water other than Avian available today at Carrefour Dandy mall..


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## Biffy

ay hyper and seoudi they had 2 brnads I have never seen before - one called 'organica' i think in a very fancy bottle and one that reads like it was produced by the ministry.


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## jemiljan

Biffy said:


> ay hyper and seoudi they had 2 brnads I have never seen before - one called 'organica' i think in a very fancy bottle and one that reads like it was produced by the ministry.


"Organica" is sold at Golds Gym in Maadi. Haven't read the label or bought it yet, though.


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## jemiljan

*Authorities raid factory producing fake mineral water*

Food supply inspectors in Ismailia have apprehended workers at an unlicensed factory in Abu Suweir that had been selling bottles filled with tap water and labeled with trademarks of established mineral water companies.

Police detained the owner’s son and confiscated the materials inside.

Among other things, two water filters and 2000 labels bearing the names of well-known mineral water companies were confiscated.

On Wednesday, the government’s Consumer Protection Agency warned citizens not to drink seven mineral water products which, it said, came from unknown sources. Those products included Safa, al-Waha, Jana, Sahara, Life, Al-Wadi, and Zamzam. The agency said that this water is a health risk because it originated from unlicensed factories.

The agency added that these seven water products are not among the 17 registered at the Health Ministry.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm


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## Biffy

The water you saw ikn Hyper was also a brand in Seoudi - I bought a case because i had no other option at the time and it is horrible - tastes reminiscent of tap water and my children have refused to drink it!


if you are boiling water to make it safe for drinking - you must oil it for over 1 minute - if not then some of the bacteria will remain.
Also if the water contains toxins or chemicals - you mustn't drink it even if boiled. Boiling will ot get rid of them and may if you boil for too long be more concentrated

But this will not get rid of the taste that is present in the water here.

But I think in summer you would spend all your time boiling water and then cooling ti down to drink - especially if you have a family.


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## aykalam

Biffy said:


> if you are boiling water to make it safe for drinking - you *must oil it* for over 1 minute - if not then some of the bacteria will remain.
> .


lol Biffy, 

For a second I was wondering...how do you "oil" water? 

:spit:


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## MaidenScotland

I have used tap water many many times and it has never made me ill. I prefer bottled water but I am not afraid to drink from the tap,


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## Biffy

aykalam said:


> lol Biffy,
> 
> For a second I was wondering...how do you "oil" water?
> 
> :spit:


What can I say !!

My fingers run away and sometimes I am too lazy to check.


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