Organic Bottled Water From Lammsbrau Gets OK From German Court

Many bottled water producers make silly health claims for their products. There's Smart Water, which claims to improve brain function despite being normal purified tap water. Vitamin Water bills a whole host of different health claims even though experts say it's more or less sugar water. Don't even get us started on blk water, the new ebony-tinted, supposedly super-healthy offering from the Manzo brothers of Real Housewives of New Jersey "fame."

But the advertising claims of BioKristall are unusual even in this ignominious company. German maker Lammsbrau bills its bottled water bills as "organic," via its title, which includes the German term ("bio") for organic products, according to Worldcrunch.

It's not that we're disputing that BioKristall would meet the USDA Organic certification standards, inasmuch as it is free of pesticides or chemical fertilizers. We know it is -- but so is every other bottled water. It doesn't make any sense to call one water organic; the term refers to agricultural practices, and water, to the best of our knowledge, does not come from farms. Indeed, the scientific term "organic" (as in Organic Chemistry) emphatically does not apply to water. It refers to molecules that contain carbon, and water includes only hydrogen and oxygen.

All these reasons, and others, helped convince a Frankfurt court that heard a case against Lammsbrau that there was no such thing as organic water. But Lammsbrau, which also brews beer, appealed the decision, and won the right to keep its "bio" name, as long as it agreed to change its label to decrease its resemblance to the state-approved organic certification symbol.

BioKristall is not alone in its shifty application of the organic label, even if it is the first to get court approval. A Welsh producer, Llanlyr, made waves at this year's Fancy Food Show for its absurd organic bottled water, and several others have tried hard to do so -- even though, as Mother Jones points out, the USDA has specifically said that water cannot be called organic.

Comments

[organicwaterorg]

05:28 PM on 02/21/2013

We agree with you and U.S Dept of Ag that products like Llanllyr are a sham however it does not mean that that organic water does not exist.

According to Jennifer Chait, a projessional environmental and health writer, a green living community manager and a deveoted organic advocate,

“There's an exception to the water rule though when it comes to flavored waters containing fruit juice, herbs or other agricultural additives that do qualify for certification.
For example, Ayala's Herbal Water is certified organic, which may seem strange, since it's bottled water.
However, according to Soo Kim, representative of the USDA’s National Organic Program, this product does qualify for certification, because:
"Regardless of whether water is the main or primary ingredient, it’s only the herb that qualifies for organic certification. Therefore, the product could properly be labeled ‘organic’ if it met the requirements for organic crops and handling/processing."

So in conclusion fruit, vegetable or plant based juice water is organic water.

[LizzieBA]

12:02 AM on 12/08/2011

Ridiculous! The bottle hat contains the water is contaminating! How could be this "bio" and "organic"?

[BluebirdofUnhappiness]

03:26 PM on 12/06/2011

H2O. No carbon. Inorganic.
That's a joke of sorts BTW.

[jpnairn]

03:04 PM on 12/06/2011

But is it Vegan?

[KhunDavid]

02:02 PM on 12/06/2011

Lammsbrau-Benzene ... certified organic.

much more true than Lammsbrau-Wasser

[Louise Aloft]

08:28 AM on 12/06/2011

i don't think it's a good marketing technique at all.. it makes me think there are organisms in the water!

[Gadgetman]

02:28 AM on 12/06/2011

The whole bottled water thing is a scam that is also damaging the planet - COME ON PEOPLE, STOP BUYING BOTTLED WATER!

[Joffan]

01:07 AM on 12/06/2011

It's guaranteed to have come from one of these:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_organ

[HazelPethigFan]

11:18 PM on 12/05/2011

Yeah...but is free-range, grass-fed, gluten-free, rBGH-free, nonGMO, dairy-free, cage-free, peanut-free , vegan water.

Say no to Monsanto water. Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

[chrsmith3]

08:25 PM on 12/05/2011

Line forms at the corner for organic salt..

[MikeDu]

07:59 PM on 12/05/2011

Water is, by its very nature, inorganic. Its hydrogen and oxygen molecules. Maybe with some dissolved minerals in it. That's minerals as in 'inorganic' again. Tequila, on the other hand is made from agave plants and has a dead worm at the bottom, so i guess that could be considered organic.

[onasphere]

07:37 PM on 12/05/2011

That's like selling dolphin-safe dolphin skin shoes.

[StopThePlanet]

08:00 PM on 12/05/2011

Saccharin-free tofu.

[Epilef2000]

07:08 PM on 12/05/2011

watered down regulations, just allows any product to be "organic"....and now I need to research any food that I buy that is labeled organic..in order for it to meet my standard...but organic water is classic..next..thing you know..those oxygen bars..will serve organic oxygen

[Dnietz]

07:07 PM on 12/05/2011

Calling any water "organic" is silly.

But this statement by the author:
"""it is free of pesticides or chemical fertilizers. We know it is -- but so is every other bottled water"""
is ignorant and insincere.

I can't believe an educated person would say that.

I am wholeheartedly against the waste created by the plastic water bottles, but get really annoyed at the extremists that pretend tap water in our country is safe and healthy, when we see articles every day about the contaminants in them.

The same is true of "all bottled water". There have been plenty of articles about how much of bottled water and even some bottle water that claimed to be purified aren't contaminant free.

So again, the term organic is silly when it comes to water. The correct term should be purified. But it doesn't change the insincerity of this article.

[BoFo]

07:03 PM on 12/05/2011

Why buy bottled water at all? Install a good-quality water filter in your kitchen an refill your water bottle from that. Bottled water is one of the most wasteful and ridiculous products ever marketed.