A Little Secret About Bottled Water
Containers Say It Expires,
But Evidence for That Is Scant;
Blame It on New Jersey
By Andrea Petersen
Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

It's rough enough that the millions of Americans who buy bottled water are
paying for something that used to basically be free. But even harder to stomach
is the message that comes on the bottle: Like milk and eggs, water now
"expires."

Most commercially produced water comes stamped with expiration dates --
typically within two years of when it was bottled. On most Poland Spring
bottles there are tiny, white letters advising consumers to drink up within two
years. Most Aquafina bottles sport two-year expiration warnings on their caps.
In general, the dates on bottled water include the prefix "EXP," meaning
"expires." Fiji brand water has a slightly different approach: Its bottles say
"Best by" followed by the date. Coca-Cola Inc. puts a one-year expiration date
on its Dasani brand water.

The message that water has a shelf life has been further amplified in the wake
of Sept. 11. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security urges people to stockpile
water in their disaster-preparedness kits. On its Web site (www.ready.gov), it
instructs people to change their stored water every six months.

The American Red Cross also advises people via its Web site to replace their
stored water every six months. But when contacted, the organization's manager
of disaster education, Rocky Lopes, says people should replace their bottled
water before its expiration date. "The water should be replaced if the
manufacturer determines there is a reason for it," he says.

But does water really spoil? Despite the labels reminding consumers to drink
up, there is virtually no evidence that drinking water beyond the expiration
date has any health impact at all. The Food and Drug Administration considers
bottled water to have an "indefinite shelf life." Even the bottled-water
industry is hard-pressed to justify the labels.

"There's no real rationale," says Jane Lazgin, a spokeswoman for Nestle Waters
North America Inc., a division of Nestle SA that bottles brands including
Poland Spring and Ice Mountain, and imports European waters such as Perrier and
Vittel. The practice "is not health-based," she adds.

Still, some shoppers are heeding these directives. If bottled water is past its
expiration date, "there's probably something wrong with it," says John Bohan, a
39-year-old father of three in Los Angeles who drinks only bottled or filtered
water. "I would drink bad tap water over post-dated bottled water."

Expiration dates are just one example of how shifting tastes and successful
marketing have complicated what was once one of life's simpler acts -- drinking
water. This year, for the first time, Americans are expected to buy more
bottled water than beer or coffee. Sales of bottled water reached $7.7 billion
in 2002, up 12% from 2001, according to Beverage Marketing Corp., a New
York-based consulting company. Even dogs now have bottled-water options -- K9
Water Co. makes chicken- and beef-flavored waters.

Store shelves are filled with a baffling array of options, from "spring water"
and "artesian water" to "purified water" and "drinking water." (The latter is
often industry code for filtered tap water.) And, for all the popularity of
bottled water, there is little evidence that it's any better for you than what
flows from the faucet.

Some bottled water makers say that they use expiration dates for taste, and not
health reasons. A Coca-Cola spokeswoman, Susan McDermott, says the company has
done research on its own Dasani brand showing that the taste of its bottled
water changes after its one-year expiration date. But, she adds: "It is
probably not something the average person will notice." Manufacturers also say
most people drink their water well short of the industry average two-year mark.

The government says that the recommendation on the Department of Homeland
Security Web site is really directed at people who bottle their own tap water.
Unsealed containers could allow bacteria or other contaminants into the water
that could multiply, experts say. It's unclear, however, how many people take
the time to fill milk jugs or soda bottles with tap water and store it as part
of their disaster-supply kits.

The issue of expiration dates is a long-running one that extends beyond water.
Though government regulations require expiration dates on certain foods and
medicines, critics say some prompt consumers to unnecessarily toss things out
and re-stock. A study by the U.S. military in the 1980s found that 90% of the
prescription and over-the-counter drugs it studied were effective well past
their expiration dates.

To some degree, the fact that bottled water carries expiration dates can be
blamed on New Jersey, the only state that officially requires it. That
regulation dates back to 1987, though it's not completely clear what prompted
it. The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services says only that:
"The intent of the law was to protect the safety and quality of drinking
water."

The industry says that, given the New Jersey law, it's easier -- and cheaper --
for water companies to stamp dates on every bottle, whatever the destination,
than to do it selectively. "That's why you'll see it, so you don't have a
hodge-podge of labels going to different states," says Stephen Kay of the
International Bottled Water Association, an industry trade group. (A handful of
other states, including New York, Michigan and Louisiana, require manufacturers
to stamp packages with the bottling date, but don't insist on expiration
dates.)

Some consumers don't take the expiration dates on bottled water all that
seriously. John Rosenblatt, a 35-year-old television producer in New York, has
stashed a five-gallon jug of water and a couple of cases of Poland Spring along
with the canned food, gas masks and money he says he might need in an
emergency. He plans to keep the water after its expiration date -- and drink
it.

Others outside of the industry back the notion that the taste of a bottle of
water can shift slightly over time. One explanation, according to some, is that
the minerals that either naturally occur in some bottled water or are added
during manufacturing may settle. The result can be water that tastes stale. "I
don't think it would be a safety problem, but more of a quality issue," says
Michael P. Doyle, director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of
Georgia. "We've had some water that tasted like stale milk."

For that reason, some big grocery chains say they won't let old water sit on
their shelves. Albertsons Inc., which operates 2,300 stores across the country,
says it sends water that is past its stated expiration date back to the
manufacturer.

The type of bottle used can also be a factor in the taste. The cheaper kind of
translucent plastic used for milk jugs and some gallon containers of water can
eventually leach a plastic tinge into the water. (Most bottled water, however,
is packaged in a higher grade of plastic that is much more resistant to
leaching.)

As for the expiration dates on bottled water, a renaming may be in order. The
expiration date on the bottles of Dasani water, for instance, "isn't really an
expiration date," says Ms. McDermott, of Coca-Cola. "It is more of an optimal
taste date."

A Bottled-Water Lexicon

Labels sport all sorts of vague terms that can make it difficult to figure out
what you're drinking. Below, a guide to some of the more popular varieties:

Mineral water: Unlike some waters, this contains a minimum amount of dissolved
minerals and other elements. Water is derived from a protected underground
source.

Spring water: Retrieved from a natural spring. With the exception of fluoride,
no minerals are allowed to be added.

Artesian water: From a well that taps an aquifer, an underground layer of earth
that contains water.

Purified water: Water has undergone a process to remove minerals, metals and
other substances. The source is usually tap or spring water.

Drinking water: General term means the water is intended for people to drink --
but the term doesn't tell you anything about where it's from or how it's been
processed.

Sources: FDA, International Bottled Water Association

Updated February 11, 2004 4:29 a.m.

Wall Street Journal
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