■According to: Is 'maternal and infant water' and 'baby water' really worth the money?
With people paying more and more attention to the quality of drinking water, various concepts around 'water' are constantly being promoted. In recent years, products such as 'mother and baby water' and 'baby water' have been popular in the market. Taking the example of a popular baby water product from Nongfu Spring, known as the 'porter of nature,' the price for a 1-liter bottle is close to 9 yuan.
Screenshot source: Tmall Nongfu Spring Official Flagship Store
Screenshot Source: Tmall Evergrande Ice Spring Flagship Store
In similar maternal and infant water products, the conversion prices of 1 liter of Evergrande Ice Spring and Quanyang Spring have also reached 12 yuan and 7.5 yuan respectively. Reporters from 'Consumer Reports' found that compared to their own regular natural mineral water, maternal and infant water often sells for a higher price.
'Also brought from nature, what is the difference between Nongfu Spring infant water and ordinary natural mineral water? Does the national standard define 'baby water'? What kind of drinking water is suitable for infants and young children?'
With these questions in mind, Consumer Reports launched an investigation.
For the convenience of readers' understanding, combined with the promotion of Nongfu Spring on Tmall, this publication will refer to 'Nongfu Spring Maternal and Infant Water' in the following text.
The national standard does not have categories such as 'maternal and infant water' or 'baby water'.
To further segment the high-end water market and target the infant market, Nongfu Spring launched 'Nongfu Spring Natural Drinking Water (Suitable for Infants and Young Children)' in 2015. In May 2016, Nongfu Spring invited tennis star Li Na to endorse the product, who was pregnant at the time. The strategy for Nongfu Spring's baby water is also quite clear, targeting mainly infants and young children aged 0 to 3, leveraging Li Na's healthy and sunny image to achieve breakthroughs in sales.
Journalists from 'Consumer Reports' visited offline markets and found that the three main categories of popular packaged drinking water on the market are natural mineral water, purified drinking water, and natural water. This is similar to the classification given in the national recommended standard GB/T 10789-2015 'General Rules for Beverages'.
We can see that in fact there are no categories such as 'maternal and infant water' or 'baby water' in the relevant national standards.
A doctor from the Clinical Nutrition Department of Zhongshan Third Hospital told a reporter from 'Consumer Reports': 'Infant mineral water is a refined classification by the manufacturer. As long as it is safe, there is no difference from regular products. I estimate that most mothers would consider infant-specific products to be cleaner. However, I have not seen any specific national standards for this type of infant mineral water.'
Although marketed as 'baby water,' Nongfu Spring's mother and baby water is labeled as 'drinking natural water (suitable for infants and young children)' on the packaging. This name is similar to drinking natural water in the 'Regulations on Beverages,' with the addition of 'suitable for infants and young children.'
Nongfu Spring Natural Drinking Water (Suitable for Infants and Young Children) (Source: Nongfu Spring Official Flagship Store on Tmall)
'What is the definition of "suitable for infants and young children"?'
Nongfu Spring's maternal and infant water is labeled with the execution standard Q/NFS 0012S on the product packaging. Although this standard defines 'drinking natural water (suitable for infants),' it is only an enterprise standard of Nongfu Spring, and the drafting units of the standard are all related to Nongfu Spring Co., Ltd. Furthermore, in this standard, Nongfu Spring also points out that this water should belong to the category of 'other drinking water' in the detailed rules for food production permit review.
According to the national standard GB 7718-2011, food names are generally labeled according to the names specified in national standards, industry standards, or local standards. This does not include 'enterprise standards'.
Food Name Marking (Source: GB 7718-2011 "National Food Safety Standard General Rules for Prepackaged Food Labels")
The person in charge of the Public Relations and Media Department of Yangshengtang responded to our reporter that Nongfu Spring Natural Drinking Water (suitable for infants and young children) belongs to natural drinking water. In accordance with the requirements of the Standardization Law of the People's Republic of China and the Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China, the enterprise standard Q/NFS 0012S 'Natural Drinking Water (Suitable for Infants and Young Children)' stricter than GB 19298 'National Standard for Food Safety Packaged Drinking Water' was formulated. After being filed with the Jilin Provincial Health Commission, it is implemented in accordance with the marking standard. This water has suitable mineral content, is aseptically filled after high-temperature sterilization, meets commercial aseptic requirements, and can be directly consumed by infants and young children or used to prepare infant formula foods. The labeling makes it convenient for consumers to choose.
The journalist found on the official website of the Jilin Provincial Health Commission that the food safety work dynamics (Issue 1, 2015) of the enterprise did pass the record review.
Farmer Spring Enterprise Standard Q/NFS 0012S passed the record review (Source: Jilin Provincial Health Commission official website)
However, in theory, the product name cannot violate the provisions of national standards.
Nongfu Spring's maternal and infant water should be labeled on the packaging as 'drinking natural water' or 'other types of drinking water', or 'packaged drinking water', words like maternal and infant water, baby water, suitable for infants and young children may constitute suggestive advertising.
Actually, in terms of standard issues and product definitions, Nongfu Spring has not been questioned for the first time.
As early as April 2013, Nongfu Spring was involved in the 'Standard Gate' incident. At that time, as a member of the Health Drinking Water Professional Committee of the Chinese National Health Association, Nongfu Spring was accused of implementing local standard DB33/383-2005, which had looser limits for indicators such as arsenic and cadmium compared to the 'Hygienic Standard for Drinking Water' and the revised 'Hygienic Standard for Bottled (Barreled) Drinking Water'.
Nongfu Spring 'Standard Gate' Incident (Source: Jilin Province Food Safety Standard Website)
Marketing and publicity are contradictory, does Nongfu Spring's maternal and infant water come from mineral water sources?
When visiting offline, Ms. Li introduced to our reporter that before the child is 2 years old, she will buy Nongfu Spring mother and baby water for her. When asked by the reporter 'What special feeling do you have when drinking this water' and 'Why not buy relatively affordable mineral water', she replied that the water is sweeter than boiled tap water, giving her child more peace of mind. She has not specifically compared mineral water, but she feels that mother and baby water is more targeted.
What is the difference between Nongfu Spring's mother and baby water and mineral water?
The reporter from Consumer Reports noticed the following statement on the Nongfu Spring official website under the 'Water Health Knowledge' section, 'The liver and kidney functions of infants and young children are not yet fully developed. If infants and young children drink water with high mineral content, it will increase the burden on their liver and kidneys.'
Nongfu Spring's official website states that 'the mineral content of drinking water for infants and young children should not be too high'
However, in the promotional video 'Searching for Moyaq Spring' on the official website, the journalist learned that Fang Qiang, a water source explorer for Nongfu Spring, wanted to find a top mineral water source in the Changbai Mountain area. He later went northeast to Lushuihe Town, Fushong County, and found a suitable water source, which was later named Moyaq Spring. According to the introduction on the official website, Nongfu Spring's Fushong Factory draws water from the Moyaq Spring in Changbai Mountain. The spring water naturally emerges from the fissures of basalt after natural filtration and mineralization through frozen soil layers and rock layers. The water contains various natural mineral elements and is a high-quality light mineral water characterized by silicic acid as the key indicator.
Introduction to the Changbai Mountain Water Source of Nongfu Spring (Source: Nongfu Spring Official Website)
The promotional page shows that Nongfu Spring's maternal and infant water is sourced from Spring No. 2 at Moyaqun, indicating that this product comes from a mineral spring source.
Nongfu Spring Mother and Baby Water is taken from the natural mineral water source of the Fushong Water Resource Protection Area in Changbai Mountain, Spring 2
On the one hand, there is the official statement that the product is labeled as 'natural water' and the recommendation from Nongfu Spring not to give high-mineral water to infants and young children. On the other hand, the water source of the maternal and infant water is defined as mineral water in the promotional video. These statements indirectly contradict each other.
In terms of water quality indicators, according to the national standard GB 8537-2018, drinking natural mineral water must meet the requirements of one (or more) limit indicators, such as silicic acid, which must be ≥25.0mg/L.
Drinking natural mineral water limit indicators (Source: GB 8537-2018 "National Food Safety Standard Drinking Natural Mineral Water")
On the packaging of Nongfu Spring's maternal and infant water, the journalist noticed that the content of silicic acid ranges from 1.8 to 50.0mg/L, with significant fluctuations. This content does not fully meet the requirements of mineral water, but there is an interval intersection mathematically.
Several logical clues can be summarized as follows: The water source of Nongfu Spring's maternal and infant water is the Moyaqi spring, which is a mineral water source, but the water quality indicators of the product do not fully meet the standards of natural mineral water. Although promoted as 'baby water,' it only falls under the category of 'drinking natural water' in national standards.
Actually, there are also many maternal and infant water products on the market that use Changbai Mountain as the water source. This publication briefly lists 3 brands, totaling 6 products. Unlike Nongfu Spring, both Hengda Ice Spring and Quanyang Spring's maternal and infant water are labeled as 'natural mineral water'.
What water should babies drink? Don't blindly pay the intelligence tax
The 'Chinese Dietary Guidelines for Residents 2016' points out that the kidneys, liver, and other organs of infants and young children aged 7 to 24 months are not yet fully developed, and excessive sodium intake may increase the burden on the kidneys. However, the guidelines also mention that according to foreign studies, the main source of sodium for children over 1 year old is purchased processed foods, such as processed meat products, convenience foods, which do not include mineral water.
The journalist found that if only sodium is used as a reference indicator, in fact, ordinary mineral water can also meet the requirements of baby water (as shown in the figure above).
According to the information provided by the Public Relations and Media Department of Health Preservation Hall, in 2003, the World Health Organization held a special meeting in Geneva and published a paper titled 'The Impact of Nutrient Minerals in Drinking Water on Infant Nutrition.' The article pointed out that infants and young children are more susceptible to the harmful effects of high mineral salt intake, therefore proposing that the suitable sodium content in drinking water for infants and young children should be ≤20mg/L, and sulfate content should be ≤200mg/L.
However, the premise of 'sodium ≤20mg/L' is actually for using bottled water to prepare infant formula.
Dr. Kong Lingkai, a pediatric attending physician at the Second Military Medical University, once pointed out in an article that for the water used to prepare infant formula, it is completely fine to boil water with a sodium content below 200mg/L (which is the standard for tap water).
The Nongfu Spring company also acknowledges this statement. In its promotional materials, it is pointed out that if the quality of local tap water is good and the mineral content meets the requirements for infant drinking water, it is acceptable to boil and give it to infants for drinking.
Is tap water suitable for infants and young children to drink? (Source: Nongfu Spring promotional page)
The person in charge of Guangzhou's tap water mentioned in an interview with our magazine that, generally speaking, tap water that meets the national standard GB 5749-2006 'Hygienic Standard for Drinking Water' can be used directly with confidence and is the best choice for long-term consumption.
It is worth mentioning that Nongfu Spring has put forward another water health point of view on its official website - infants and young children's drinking water should not be completely devoid of mineral elements. Kong Lingkai has answered similar views in his article, stating that children who drink breast milk can obtain enough minerals from it and do not need additional minerals; formula milk is also fine because the minerals and trace elements in the formula can meet the child's needs.
Nongfu Spring Water Health Perspective (Source: Nongfu Spring Official Website)
In conclusion, Nongfu Spring's maternal and infant water does have aspects in its promotion that could easily lead consumers to misunderstand. Firstly, its name suggests it is natural drinking water, but it also includes the words 'suitable for infants' and is promoted as 'baby water' on e-commerce platforms. Secondly, Nongfu Spring mentions in its promotional video that Moyaqun is a high-quality mineral water source, but the maternal and infant water from this spring falls under the national standard for natural drinking water. Thirdly, Nongfu Spring conveys to consumers in its promotion that it is best to use maternal and infant water to mix milk powder, while according to relevant professional opinions, water meeting tap water standards (boiled) is also suitable for mixing milk powder.
Reference standard:
GB 5749-2006 "Hygienic Standard for Drinking Water"
GB 19298-2014 "National Food Safety Standard - Packaged Drinking Water"
GB 8537-2018 "National Food Safety Standard Drinking Natural Mineral Water"
GB/T 10789-2015 "General rules for beverages"
GB 7718-2011 "General Standard for the Labeling of Prepackaged Foods"
Q/NFS 0012S《Drinking Natural Water (Suitable for Infants and Young Children)》
Reference books/articles:
《Chinese Residents' Dietary Guidelines 2016》
《The Impact of Nutritional Minerals in Drinking Water on Infant Nutrition》
《Is alkaline water good for babies?》
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