How business, doctors and journalists prey on your food anxieties I
How business, doctors and journalists prey on your food anxieties I
How business, doctors and journalists prey on your food anxieties I
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i'r'I1t`111 ;11111 1 1 ~ j!ll ; b7<br />
STAYING HEALTHY<br />
7i '<br />
Snob water<br />
Most "designer" water has about the same minerals<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> purity as San Ant<strong>on</strong>io tap water .<br />
By R Lee Sullivan<br />
Do roC Rt'T bottled water?<br />
Can you state plainly sshv<br />
you think this is a good<br />
investment?<br />
D<strong>on</strong>'t feel abashed if<br />
rour anssrers, respectively,<br />
are }'es <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> no . It's a fair bet<br />
that most of the Americans<br />
who spent S3 billi<strong>on</strong> last<br />
year <strong>on</strong> bottled water<br />
would have to ansscer in the<br />
same c<strong>on</strong>tradict<strong>on</strong>way .<br />
There are tsvo reas<strong>on</strong>s<br />
people pay extra for botded<br />
water : The}• pav either for<br />
what's in it (minerals) or for<br />
what's not in it (c<strong>on</strong>taminants)<br />
. Europeans tend to<br />
fall in the first group, Americans<br />
in the sec<strong>on</strong>d .. <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
some people, no doubt, are moticated<br />
by both factors .<br />
Here are the facts, which nra~surprise<br />
both Europeans <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> Americans :<br />
Bottled water isn't much purer than<br />
tap water in big cities, <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> fesv br<str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g>s<br />
of bottled water offer a significant<br />
amount of minerals (see table) .<br />
Purin' first . American tap \tatcr is<br />
the cleanest in the world .<br />
~'Vhen was the last timeanv<strong>on</strong>e<br />
Vou know had diolera'r<br />
The Centers for Disease<br />
C<strong>on</strong>trol & Presnnri<strong>on</strong> says<br />
that in most vears • .`e wcr<br />
than 10,000 people report<br />
getting sick from drinking<br />
tap water in the U .S . There<br />
could be milli<strong>on</strong>s of unreported<br />
cases, but most of<br />
the illnesses are no u'orse<br />
than diarrhea . Repeated<br />
health violad<strong>on</strong>s occur<br />
mainlv in small aamr scstems<br />
without adequate filtrati<strong>on</strong><br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> chlorinati<strong>on</strong><br />
that sen'e fewer than<br />
20,000 people .<br />
Bottfing A^esia br<str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> vwater in San Ant<strong>on</strong>io<br />
Comes from the same aquifer as the city's tap water .<br />
Getting soaked<br />
Btrt even' nou<str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> thcn diere's a<br />
problem in a big-citr stilater supnlsr <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
it makes big h eadlines . Cnptosporidium<br />
parasites crept into the ~kIflsvaukee<br />
water stssm nso vear .s ago,<br />
causing400,000 cases uf diarrhea <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
nausea <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> perhaps 100 deaths, the<br />
latter am<strong>on</strong>g people with ~reakened<br />
immune sestems-namels•, cancer<br />
Bottled Calcium Magnesium Gntap Calcium Magnesium<br />
Apollinaris 9's 34% Chicago 4% 3%<br />
Crystal Geyser I . Ol 3<br />
Evian 8 5 Cetrm[ 3 2<br />
La Croix 5 n iuustcn 4 1<br />
Mendocino 38 30 LasAngein 4 4<br />
Perrier S 1 New Ycrk . 4<br />
San Pellegrino 23 14 San qmcnio 8 4<br />
Volvic i 2 3an Diego 9 6<br />
Soorces, FDAr cnty wafer departwents : batt)ed wate, compames,<br />
Some bottled waters c<strong>on</strong>tain significant doses of calcium <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
magnesium . Some d<strong>on</strong>'t. Depending <strong>on</strong> where you live, you could<br />
do as well drinking tap water . Amounts are percentages<br />
of the FDA's recommended daily Intake for adults, per liter .<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> AtUS patients . It could happen<br />
again, in some other cin . The parr<br />
site's asts are nor esil% killed by<br />
chlorine, so preventi<strong>on</strong> is largely a<br />
mattu-of keeping animal feces out of<br />
the «'ater supplq-<br />
Do the possibilities of this kind of<br />
infeti<strong>on</strong> ~sorn,you? Boiling rour<br />
ter tbr <strong>on</strong>e minutc will deal u'ith that<br />
danger . Another thing to c<strong>on</strong>sider is<br />
that,«hile cn•ptosporidium isn't likely<br />
to sho~xup in underground springs<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> wells, current safetv<br />
regulati<strong>on</strong>s d<strong>on</strong>'t m<str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g>ate<br />
that bottled water companles<br />
filter for the parasite,<br />
either . Indeed, the iklihvaukee<br />
water ststem met all<br />
state <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> federal st<str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g>ards<br />
at the time of the outbreak .<br />
In a June report the Centers<br />
for Disease C<strong>on</strong>trol<br />
c<strong>on</strong>cluded, "For the vast<br />
majority of Americans,<br />
al,ptosporidium does nor<br />
pose a grave danger ."<br />
Okae, but suppose ~-ou<br />
think like a European <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
drink the bottled stuff for<br />
the minerals? "Another<br />
dav . :vtotherchancetofeel<br />
healdiv," promises the<br />
E\ian slogan . San Pellegrino<br />
distributes a booklet that eztols<br />
a litany of benetits : bicarb<strong>on</strong>ates c<strong>on</strong>trol<br />
acidin' in gastric juices <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> blood ;<br />
calcium is essential for sound b<strong>on</strong>es ;<br />
magnesium produces energy ; <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> p<strong>on</strong>issium<br />
helps maintain proper cicctrolrte<br />
balance .<br />
There's s<strong>on</strong>ic truth to all this . But<br />
bc mindfid that San Pellegrino is<br />
something of an excepti<strong>on</strong><br />
in having noticeable levels<br />
of minerals . For example,<br />
you'd have to drink 34 gall<strong>on</strong>s<br />
of Perrier to get the<br />
400 milligrams of magnesium<br />
the FDA recommends<br />
we get each day. As for<br />
potassium, mineral waters<br />
simplv d<strong>on</strong>'t hace enough<br />
to makc any dif}erence, sacs<br />
nutriti<strong>on</strong>ist Claudia Plaisted<br />
nf Duke IIni,ersity's<br />
Stednian Nutriti<strong>on</strong> Center .<br />
Ifcou reallv have a calcium<br />
or magnesium deticiencc,<br />
there are better wars to<br />
deal rvidi it, such as eating<br />
spinach <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> yogurt . 11111111<br />
192<br />
Forbcs a August 14, 1995<br />
I<br />
http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/agf97d00/pdf