A U.S. District Court has dismissed a lawsuit against Nestle Waters North America that claimed its Poland Spring brand water does not come from springs.
The company said the Connecticut-based court granted its motion to dismiss the suit, filed last August by eleven consumers who claimed the product is essentially filtered groundwater.
The court dismissed the complaint after reviewing the results of an independent investigation into whether Poland Spring meets the requirements of the federal spring water standard.
“We are pleased with the court’s decision to dismiss this meritless lawsuit,” said Charles Broll, Nestlé Waters Executive Vice President and General Counsel. “Poland Spring is what we have always said it is – 100% natural spring water, meeting all FDA regulations for spring water.”
The lawsuit, similar to one filed in 2003, claimed Nestle Waters was misleading consumers by labeling the Poland Spring product as “100 percent natural spring water.”
Investigation concludes it's properly labeled
Nestle says DLA Piper conducted an independent analysis of the Poland Spring product, determining that the water is properly labeled as “spring water.”
Former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, chairman emeritus of DLA Piper, said in a statement that Poland Spring brand water sources “satisfy the requirements of the federal spring water identity standard, and as a result, the use of the term ‘spring water’ on Poland Spring labels is both accurate and appropriate.”
The federal regulations covering water products, and whether they can be considered spring water, are specific. Below are the standards that must be met:
The water flows naturally to the surface of the earth
The water is collected only at the spring or through a bore hole tapping the underground formation feeding the spring
A natural force causes the water to flow to the surface through a natural orifice
The location of the spring is identified
Water collected with the use of an external force shall be from the same underground stratum as the spring, as shown by a measurable hydraulic connection using a hydrogeologically valid method between the bore hole and the natural spring, and shall have all the physical properties, before treatment, and be of the same composition and quality, as the water that flows naturally to the surface of the earth.