Tasters can't tell difference between tap, bottled water.Byline: Susan Palmer The Register-Guard Funny thing about water. It tastes like ... water. That was the consensus of 40 people who tried a taste test pitting tap water against bottled water Thursday at the University of Oregon The University of Oregon is a public university located in Eugene, Oregon. The university was founded in 1876, graduating its first class two years later. The University of Oregon is one of 60 members of the Association of American Universities. . "I thought I could tell the difference," said Liz Wallace, a psychology student. "I really couldn't." And neither could religious studies student Thomas Brundage. Neither said they regularly drank bottled water. The taste test was set up by Corporate Accountability International, a nonprofit group dedicated to examining and challenging the claims and actions of large corporations. The group says claims by companies such as Pepsi and Nestle that their bottled water is more pure than tap water simply aren't true. Pepsi owns bottled water company Aquafina and Nestle owns Arrowhead Water Arrowhead Water, also known as Arrowhead Mountain Springwater, is a brand of drinking water that is popular in the western United States, particularly in Arizona, the Northwest, and in California, where it is produced. Co. Tap water quality is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), independent agency of the U.S. government, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1970 to reduce and control air and water pollution, noise pollution, and radiation and to ensure the safe handling and . Bottled water falls under the Food and Drug Administration. The two agencies have different procedures for assuring water quality. In the taste test, people were asked to sample four unmarked cups of water and try to guess which two samples came from a bottle and which came from a tap. Of the 40 who tried the taste test, only one person correctly identified three out of the four samples, said Mary Nicol, a spokeswoman for Corporate Accountability International. Most everyone else couldn't tell the difference, she said. Her organization is worried that corporations are buying up water rights and selling for a high profit a necessity that should be freely available. After-hours messages left at Pepsi and Nestle's East Coast offices seeking comment were not immediately returned. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the Inter- national Bottled Water Association Web site, bottled water emerged as the second-largest commercial beverage category by volume in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. in 2003. The Web site indicates that its members adhere to adhere to verb 1. follow, keep, maintain, respect, observe, be true, fulfil, obey, heed, keep to, abide by, be loyal, mind, be constant, be faithful 2. standards more stringent than any federal or state agencies. But for most of the people who stopped by the sampling table on Thursday, their taste buds taste buds taste npl → Geschmacksknospen pl couldn't tell the difference. |
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