Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to prevent the presence of plastic particles in bottled water.

The UK has world-leading standards of food safety and quality, backed by a rigorous legislative framework. The Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (England) Regulations 2007 set strict chemical and microbiological limits and minimum quality criteria for different types of bottled waters. Local Authority Trading Standards departments are responsible for enforcing the regulations on bottled waters and are required to carry out routine monitoring checks and sampling.

The Government is committed to maintaining the highest standards of food safety and quality for bottled waters to protect UK consumers.