Emmanuel Macron was humiliated when the French government was involved in a massive 2.5 billion GBP scandal | World | News

Emmanuel MacronThe government has covered up decisions on the illegal treatment of mineral water by Nestlé, a French investigation commission of the Senate has claimed. Nestlé Waters supposedly campaigned for the Élysée Palace to enable the sale of brand mineral water, which avoided strict rules that have effectively misleaded consumers, as was effectively published on Monday (May 19), which was published on Monday (May 19).

Nestle According to the report, forbidden treatments to avoid bacterial or chemical contamination of water, which is identified as “natural mineral water” or “spring water” for brands such as Perrier, Contrex, Vittel and Hépar. Such treatments are prohibited in accordance with the regulations for French and EU. Nestlé Waters is said to have used carbon filters and ultraviolet light to treat mineral water. Such methods are usually used for tap water.

The report claims that the Élysée Palace has hidden such “illegal practices” and added: “In addition to Nestlé Water's lack of transparency, the lack of transparency of the French government must also be emphasized.”

The report claims that Nestlé has argued that the risk of job losses exists if the government had not approved treatment or microfiltration, since its plants would have to close due to the source water contaminated by bacteria such as E. coli, which could lead to serious illnesses and deaths.

Laurent Burgoa, the President of the Commission, said that the health of the people sold by the company who drank water had not caused a proven damage. But he added: “Personally, I drank a little Perrier … but I didn't know what I drank, that's the problem.”

French media reported for the first time about the alleged use of the forbidden treatments last year. Nestlé paid a fine to avoid legal steps. The company was addressed for its reaction to the report of the investigation commission.

The document claimed that there was a “deliberate strategy” of the covering on this topic in October 2021. Months later, the authorities agreed to replace the banned treatments with micro filtering.

Last year, the Swiss company publicly recognized that it applied treatments in mineral waters and agreed to pay a fine of £ 1.7 million (two million euros) in order to avoid legal steps.

As part of its investigation, the investigation commission interviewed more than 120 people, including Nestles CEO Laurent Feixe and Top Manager. Alexis Kohler, who refused to speak to the Commission, was the then general secretary of the Élysée President Palace.

The report claimed that he spoke to Nestlé managers by phone or several times. The Commission came to the conclusion that “the Presidency of the Republic had known at least since 2022 that Nestlé had cheated for years”.

When asked about the scandal in February, Mr. Macron said that he was “not aware of these things” and added: “There is no consultation with anyone.”

Alexandre Ouizille, the commission's rapporteur, said the costs for the fraud were estimated by France's fraud attendant at over £ 2.5 billion (three billion euros).

He said natural mineral water was sold about 100 to 400 times the price of tap water when it was misleading consumers in France.

Mr. Ouizille said that a Nestlé plant in southern France that attended the Commission had “sliding cabiners” behind which “illegal treatments were carried out”.