On the afternoon of 16 July, the Hong Kong Consumer Council reiterated that monthly articles, press releases and other communication documents, as well as statements at the press conference, clearly pointed out that none of the 30 samples were found to contain any harmful substances exceeding the WHO's relevant guideline values, and all samples were safe to drink. The focus of the article is on the cost-effectiveness of the samples and the environmental impact of bottled water bottles, rather than on the safety of the products. "The Council will announce further information in due course," the person in charge said. ”
"The Hong Kong Consumer Council's conclusions are extremely unscientific and unrigorous, regardless of the differences in production and technical backgrounds under different regulatory requirements, and without considering the effects of ozone treatment."
Recently, according to Nongfu Spring's official disclosure, the article "Drinking Water Siyuan 30 Bottled Water Taste, Minerals, and Safety Testing" released by the Hong Kong Consumer Council on July 15, 2024 is based on wrong understanding and unprofessional analysis, and makes an unobjective evaluation of the bromate content of Nongfu Spring's products, which has caused great damage to Nongfu Spring's reputation.
In this regard, Nongfu Spring has entrusted a Hong Kong lawyer to send a lawyer's letter to the Hong Kong Consumer Council, requesting the Hong Kong Consumer Council to solemnly apologize to Nongfu Spring and its consumers, and eliminate all negative impacts on Nongfu Spring by means of written clarification and apology, otherwise, Nongfu Spring will take further action!
In a letter to the lawyer of the Hong Kong Consumer Council, Nongfu Spring pointed out that the Hong Kong Consumer Council had three major errors: "wrong application of standard categories", "wrong judgment of standards", and "unprofessional and deliberately misleading evaluation language".
1. The applicable standard categories are wrong, unscientific and rigorous
According to an article published by the Hong Kong Consumer Council, the Nongfu Spring product tested was a natural drinking water product, and the composition of the product in the test result table was also clearly marked as "natural water (deep lake water)". However, in the evaluation, the Hong Kong Consumer Council placed it in the "natural mineral water" sequence and compared it with different types of products, and applied the EU "natural mineral water" standard.
In fact, Nongfu Spring's drinking natural water products, even if the EU regional standards are adopted, should be evaluated according to the EU "drinking water" safety standards instead of the "natural mineral water" standards. According to the EU drinking water safety standard, the safe bromate content is not more than 10 μg/L. In China, Hong Kong, United States, Japan, the World Health Organization and other drinking water safety standards, the safety regulations of bromate are not more than 10 micrograms / liter. Nongfu Spring's drinking natural water products are 3 micrograms/liter, which fully meets the drinking water safety standards of the above countries and regions, and is a high-quality and qualified product.
Second, the standard judgment is wrong, irresponsible and unprofessional
Nongfu Spring Drinking Water, as a product produced and sold in Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, China, must be subject to the laws and regulations of the region to which it belongs. Nongfu Spring products strictly meet the production standards of Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, China, and all bottled water needs to be sterilized before leaving the factory (at present, the industry mainly adopts ozone sterilization method). The Hong Kong Consumer Council's conclusion that it has drawn is extremely unscientific and unrigorous by forcibly applying third-party standards that should not be applied to products sold in Hong Kong, China, ignoring the differences in production and technical backgrounds under different regulatory requirements, and without considering the effects of ozone treatment.
Further, even if the EU standards for natural mineral water are applied to the evaluation as stated by the Hong Kong Consumer Council, the bromate content of Nongfu Spring's natural water products still meets the requirements. According to the article, the bromate detection value of Nongfu Spring's natural water products was only 3 micrograms/liter, which was far lower than the median line of the European Union's control standard for similar products (10 micrograms/liter), reflecting the good quality control ability of Nongfu Spring's natural aquatic products, and the product quality met the safety requirements of various countries and regions.
3. The evaluation language is unprofessional and deliberately misleading
Any criteria only: "pass" or "fail", and the use of "upper limit" or "lower limit" is clearly and deliberately misleading.
In its evaluation, the Consumer Council of Hong Kong avoided directly stating important conclusions such as "whether it is qualified or not", but deliberately confused the safety standards and used lax expressions such as "meeting the upper limit", which could easily lead consumers to misunderstand the safety of the product. What's more, the Hong Kong Consumer Council used very unprofessional language in the article, and then commented that "overuse" and excessive consumption of bromate can cause nausea. What is "more", the use of such words in the language of the official article released by the Hong Kong Consumer Council is really very irresponsible and unprofessional. The New York State Department of Health reported that people with gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain were exposed to bromate at levels thousands of times higher than those found in the drinking water products tested.
Nongfu Spring pointed out that the Hong Kong Consumer Council's statement shows obvious intention to guide. After the Hong Kong Consumer Council issued the article, it caused panic among the vast number of consumers in Hong Kong and Chinese mainland, causing huge losses and negative impacts to enterprises like Nongfu Spring whose products themselves are fully compliant and qualified.
Nongfu Spring is informing the Hong Kong Consumer Council, asking the Hong Kong Consumer Council to immediately clarify, apologize and eliminate the impact, otherwise, Nongfu Spring will take further action! #农夫山泉要求香港消委会道歉# #香港消委会回应农夫山泉律师函#