Nestlé Waters announced on April 18, 2025, that new contaminations were detected in bottles from its Perrier factory in Gard, France.

Recent internal checks revealed contamination in several hundred thousand bottles of Perrier produced at the Vergèze site.

As a precaution, a production line was halted in March to address these contamination concerns.

Hundreds of thousands of 50-centiliter bottles are blocked due to the presence of revivalable germs, potential indicators of bacterial contamination, although these were never released to market.

Certain pallets have been blocked in warehouses while the regional health agency in Occitanie conducts further inspections to ensure food safety.

Contaminations were reported to health authorities ten days after their detection, which Nestlé acknowledged as an unusually long delay.

Approximately 300,000 bottles of 75-centiliter Perrier were found to contain pathogenic bacteria on March 11, 2025, although Nestlé did not confirm this figure to the media.

The company clarified that the contamination is not related to the water source, but the future of the Perrier site is under review by local authorities.

The iconic sparkling water brand Perrier is at risk of losing its designation as 'natural mineral water' due to these contamination issues.

Nestlé faces scrutiny over its past use of unauthorized disinfection treatments for its mineral waters, leading to a Senate inquiry initiated in November 2024.

Nestlé Waters faces increased pressure as new contamination anomalies are found outside of its well sites.

A spokesperson emphasized that these measures are part of their daily quality management processes before products reach the market.