E.Coli Concerns Prompt Bottled Water Recall; Company Defends Product

By Tom Davis

The company that supplies several Maryland grocery stores with bottled water has issued a voluntary recall in an abundance of caution because one of its source springs may be contaminated with E.coli, but says there are “no issues” with the product.

The recalled water was supplied to Wegmans, ShopRite, 7-Eleven, Acme, Giant and more on the East Coast.

Niagara Bottling LLC, on its website, said it performs extensive testing on incoming spring water. “We have confirmed there have been no issues or E.colicontamination of any kind detected in our finished products or in the spring water that was delivered to our bottling facility,” the company said.

Even if it had been present in the spring water, Niagara says it utilizes disinfection technology that would ensure that the product is free from contamination.

This recall relates to spring water produced in Niagara Pennsylvania manufacturing facilities from June 10 through 18, according to the company’s website. It does not relate to any purified water or any spring water produced outside of Pennsylvania, or outside the June 10-18 timeframe, the company said.

According to Niagara Bottling, the water was produced its the Hamburg and Allentown, Pennsylvania facilities between 3 a.m. June 10 and 8 p.m. June 18.

To determine if your water is affected, look at the code on the bottle. Only codes that begin with the letters A or F are affected.

“The first digit after the letter indicates the number of the production line. The next two numbers indicate the day, then the month in letters, the year, and then the time, based on a 24-hour clock,” the notice said.

For example, A610JUN15 2000 means the water was produced at Allentown on line 6, and manufactured on June 10, 2015 at 8 p.m.

Products made between 3 a.m. June 10 and 8 p.m. June 18 should not be consumed, the notice said.

“As the spring source did not notify us in a timely manner, we have discontinued the use of this source,’’ the notice from Niagara Bottling said.

According to the company’s notice, here’s the full list of brand names under which the water was sold:

• Acadia
• Acme
• Big Y
• Best Yet
• 7-Eleven
• Niagara
• Nature’s Place
• Pricerite
• Superchill
• Morning Fresh
• Shaws
• ShopRite
• Western Beef Blue
• Wegmans