EU Bans Bottled Water Claim That Water Prevents Dehydration: Ludicrous or Just?

15 january 2013

Europe may be on the brink of collapse, but this hasn’t stopped decision-makers in Brussels from much investing time and resources in issues which may well seem trifling to anyone with an eye on their finances of late. A prime example of such an instance is the three years officials and scientists spent deliberating the veracity of the assertion that water can help prevent dehydration.

In 2008, German scientists Dr Andreas Hahn and Dr Moritz Hagenmeyer submitted an application to the European Food Safety Authority  (EFSA) requesting the right to make the claim ”regular consumption of significant amounts of water can reduce the risk of development of dehydration and of concomitant decrease of performance” on labels of bottled water.

Having thoroughly cogitated and digested the content of the application, a team of scientists on EFSA’s Panel On Dietetic Products, Nutrition, and Allergies concluded, last January, that the claim was technically flawed, and thus erroneous. The verdict resulted in a EU directive issued just a couple of weeks ago, banning bottled water companies from making the claim on their products. Should producers defy the EU ruling and so much as imply that water, and significant amounts of it, has a hand in preventing dehydration, they could potentially face a two-year prison sentence, reported the UK’s The Telegraph newspaper.

Understandably, you might think, some people are up in arms over the edict. The Brits can’t get over its apparent idiocy. Conservative Member of the European Parliament Roger Helmer said: “This is stupidity writ large,” as was reported by The Telegraph. “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 continued, “if ever there were an episode which demonstrates the folly of the great European project then this is it.”

But before you too guffaw, baulk, or check your calendar to see if you had somehow skipped a few months and found yourself the victim of a not-very-good April Fool’s joke, let me clarify that the EFSA panel didn’t actually dispute the notion that consumption water can prevent dehydration, or the universally acknowledged fact that water hydrates. The rejection of the claim, it seems, is rooted in the semantics of the German scientists’ claim, or more specially in the incorrect application of medical concepts; a technical fault, which the scientists, who serve as advisors to food manufacturers on how to best advertise their products, failed to pick up on.

The regulation pertaining to the category of claim that the application was filed under, defines reduction of disease risk claims as those which state that the consumption of a food  “significantly reduces a risk factor in the development of a human disease.” The food here was identified as water, the disease, as dehydration. Careful inspection of EFSA’s report on the scientific opinion indicates that the panel accepted these two assertions. What it objected to, was the identification of “water loss in tissues” or “reduced water content in tissues” as the risk factors, as proposed by the German scientists. The panel believed these to be “measures of water depletion and thus are measures of the disease (dehydration).” In lay terms, these are symptoms of dehydration, i.e. conditions which are the consequence of a loss and/or  lack of fluid, and therefore  quite distinct from risk factors which are conditions that make an individual more likely to develop the disease. According to the Mayo Clinic, risk factors for dehydration include old age – “As you age…Your body’s ability to conserve water is reduced, your thirst sense becomes less acute and you’re less able to respond to changes in temperature,” its website says, living at high altitudes, chronic illnesses such as untreated or uncontrolled diabetes, kidney disease, adrenal gland disorders, and even a serious case of the flu.

EFSA’s ruling then, technically makes sense. Well, theoretically anyway. One could argue that the German scientists should have figured out what was what, and correctly identified the appropriate risk factors associated with dehydration and how they are reduced or improved by water consumption. After all, EFSA introduced the control of health claims for the very purpose of  protecting consumers from misleading information on products. Practically speaking, though, one could also make the case that the technical error upon which the application was rejected was meaningless if not redundant when the sheer fact that water hydrates the body is a universally accepted fact.

Still, this doesn’t altogether address the question of whether water necessarily prevents dehydration.

The Mayo Clinic’s website says;  ”To prevent dehydration, drink plenty of fluids and eat foods high in water such as fruits and vegetables.” According to the American Dietetic Association, “To meet most of your hydration needs, plain water is your best bet. It is readily available, low in sodium and has no calories, fat or cholesterol.” These authorities aren’t suggesting that water is the only fluid that can prevent dehydration, but then neither did the proposed claim from the German scientists.

“We are constantly losing water,” explains Dr Bob Murray, a US expert in hydration and sports nutrition, and the founder of Sports Science Insights. “so we are always progressively dehydrating.” Every time we exhale, we expire water. Our kidneys are constantly working to filter waste and expel urea which must be diluted in water. Then of course, depending on how active we are, and the climate, we lose water through sweat. These losses must be replaced every day, and if at any point we have less than optimal levels of fluids in our bodies, we are in a state of dehydration. As a consequence,  available fluids move from our cells into our blood leaving us with withered cells – 90% of the water in our bodies is found in our blood cells and 10% in our blood stream. As the lack of water worsens, the symptoms worsen. Mild dehydration – losses of between 1 %to 2 % of water which is akin to what some people experience in their daily lives, according to the USDA, leads to fatigue, weakness, thirst, dizziness, confusion and, foul moods. More severe dehydration (10%) can lead to delirium and muscle spasms, and a 20% loss could actually lead to death as a result of kidney failure.

Almost every expert we consulted agreed that  a state of mild dehydration could be prevented, and indeed treated, with consuming adequate amounts of water, or or other fluids. “Mild dehydration at rest do

esn’t really complicate our health,” said Dr Murray,”it’s just a transient state that’s corrected the next time we have something to drink or sit down for a meal.” Another notable point is that water alone isn’t the key to preventing dehydration – in fact it isn’t necessarily even the best thing to drink if you’re dehydrated. “You could drink anything,” argues Dr Susan Yeargin, an hydration and heat illness expert and a professor of athletic training at Indiana State University.” Tea, soda, a sports drink – it’s not as if water has the monopoly on rectifying the situation!” In fact, Yeargin argues that sports drinks, such as Gatorade, “do a better job” at topping up your fluid levels. “They are absorbed faster into your gastrointestinal system and diffuses faster, and they actually encourage people to drink more because of the fact that they contain sodium.”