According to a survey by the newspaper Le Monde and the investigative unit of Radio France published on January 30, 2024, «Nestlé and other industrial companies concealed from the public that the water they pumped was contaminated. To continue bottling it, they resorted to prohibited purification systems. 30% brands are said to be involved.»
This investigation reports on a meeting in Bercy between the Swiss multinational and the cabinet of Agnès Pannier-Runacher, who was then Minister of Industry, in late August 2021. This meeting did not lead to the opening of a preliminary investigation, but merely resulted in the ordering of a report from the General Inspectorate for Social Affairs (IGAS), whose conclusions were damning.
What was the government’s response? It simply relaxed regulations with the utmost discretion, allowing the exploitation of several sites. A measure that benefits multinational corporations but does not prioritize the purchasing power of the French. They were misled when they bought an expensive mineral water Nor the health of the French Since there is a possible risk, according to the report from the IGAS, which specifies that «it would not be prudent to conclude that the health risk, particularly the microbiological risk, is completely under control.».
In these circumstances, the appointment of Agnès Pannier-Runacher to the specific position of Minister Delegate to the Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty is at best a clumsy move, an expression of a certain amateurism; at worst, it is a sign of contempt for the French people who are victims of this unfortunate affair for the government.
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