Tannourine says water sample not properly collected

The Tannourine Mineral Water company on Tuesday stressed that its bottled water meets the country’s health and safety standards, after the Health Ministry ordered its suspension and the removal of its products from the market over a detected bacteria.

“The sample that was relied on was not collected according to the applicable norms,” Tannourine’s CEO said at a press conference, noting that the sample was taken in the absence of any company representative and that the related test that was conducted makes the results inaccurate and invalid.

The Health Ministry said Monday that the samples tested were contaminated with the pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria.

A Health Ministry statement published on the Ministry’s official website said the company will remain suspended pending the identification of the contamination source and the addressing of the problem.

The statement added that the company was required to pull its bottles from the market within three days at the latest and should refrain from supplying the market with any water bottles before obtaining a permission from the health minister. The Ministry also warned that the violation of the decision would subject company to administrative and judicial measures.

Health Minister Rakan Nassereddine later said that the Ministry was “responsibly following up on the testing of other Tannourine drinking water samples that are currently in laboratories and is waiting for the latest results in order to act accordingly.”

He added that the Ministry has started taking samples from the other brands of bottled water that exist in the Lebanese market in order to verify the safety and quality.

Nassereddine also reassured that the measure taken against Tannourine would be immediately reversed should it take all the necessary measures to ensure the quality and safety of its water.