STRASBOURG, France: Nestle’s water subsidiary, which produces brands such as Perrier, will pay 2 million euros ($2.2 million) to close French probes over illegal wells and treatment of mineral water, prosecutors said Tuesday.
The prosecutor in the eastern town of Epinal, Frederic Nahon, said the non-prosecution agreement was the “biggest concerning the environment signed in France to date.”
The deal ends preliminary probes into the use of wells without authorization and fraud for filtering its mineral waters — a practice that is illegal in France where mineral waters are supposed to be natural.
The Swiss group, whose water brands also include Vittel and San Pellegrino, will in addition spend 1.1 million euros over two years on projects to restore the environment in several French towns where it operates.
The prosecutor said the non-prosecution agreement was justified as Nestle had cooperated with the probe, had brought its practices into compliance and there were no public health consequences.
The deal, “while sanctioning the unauthorized activities that were found, encourages a faster conclusion, remediation of the environmental damage and compensation of several parties,” he said.
A local environmental group welcomed the deal but consumer groups criticized it.
“It’s a scandalous decision which sends a very bad message about a climate of impunity: Nestle Waters can deceive consumers around the world for years and get away with it by pulling out its checkbook,” said Ingrid Kragl, a fraud expert at Foodwatch.