dingostew.com

Producers of bottled water are now forbidden by UK law from claiming their products will prevent dehydration after a three-year investigation from EU officials.

Britain's The Telegraph has reported the decision was made on the basis there was no evidence to prove the previously undisputed fact.

Producers of bottled water will face a two-year jail sentence if they defy the edict, which comes into force in the UK next month.

Last night, critics claimed the EU was at odds with both science and common sense.

Conservative MEP Roger Helmer said the law was "stupidity writ large."

"The euro is burning, the EU is falling apart and yet here they are: highly-paid, highly-pensioned officials worrying about the obvious qualities of water and trying to deny us the right to say what is patently true," he told The Telegraph.

"If ever there were an episode which demonstrates the folly of the great European project then this is it."

Britain's National Health Service guidelines clearly state drinking water helps avoid dehydration, and that Britons should drink at least 1.2 litres per day.

The Department for Health disputed the wisdom of the new law.

"Of course water hydrates. While we support the EU in preventing false claims about products, we need to exercise common sense as far as possible," a spokesman said.

A meeting of 21 scientists in Parma, Italy, concluded that reduced water content in the body was a symptom of dehydration and not something that drinking water could subsequently control.

Now the EFSA verdict has been turned into an EU directive which was issued on Wednesday.

The Nutrition Society spokesman Prof Brian Ratcliffe said dehydration was usually caused by a clinical condition and that one could remain adequately hydrated without drinking water.

"The EU is saying that this does not reduce the risk of dehydration and that is correct," he said.

"This claim is trying to imply that there is something special about bottled water which is not a reasonable claim."

Yeah its true. Think about it.

If someone is actually dehydrated (and I don't mean a bit thirsty on a summers day or after the gym) then there's a medical reason for it!
Two possible reasons are:
1. There's a blockage somewhere and drinking more water is going to increase the pressure of the blockage and could rupture the stomach or intestines or wherever.
2. They have severe diarrhoea and ingesting more food/water is going to make them go to the toilet more, which will flush more vital minerals and nutrients from the body.

I'd say the majority of people in the western world have never been dehydrated. Maybe slightly at most. And if they were, they'd need minerals replaced which may not be found in water, hence this study.

I understand what they are saying, however it does not require a 3 year study to conclude the differance between "prevent dehydration" and "helps avoid dehydration".

ah right, now I get ya.

I remember hearing about a similar study a few years ago where it took them about 3 years to study why weetbix goes soggy after a while. The conclusion was "because it gets wet"!!