Myanmar targets toxic bottled drinking water

Bottled drinking water on sale in Yangon. (Photo from The Myanmar Times)

YANGON - The Food and Drug Administration is once again taking aim at toxic drinking water, attempting to stop bacteria-laden and unregistered bottles from proliferating in the markets.

Last week, the FDA took action against six unregistered and unlicensed water producing factories in Yangon. The six unregistered companies were based in Hlaing, East Dagon, South Okkalapa, Mayangone, Thingangyun and Taikkyi townships, according to the FDA.

“A survey conducted last month found bacteria and some acidic [chemicals] in the purified water,” Than Htut, deputy director general of the Department of Food and Drug Administration, said on Jan 28.

“In the market, we found both registered and unregistered products,” he said.

He told the media the department will crackdown on unlicensed drinking water brands, as well as unsafe water, according to a report by The Myanmar Times.

“We don’t allow products to be sold in the market while they are waiting for registration documents to be processed. We took action in the past but now we will accelerate the crackdown,” he said.

Tun Zaw, FDA food director, said that department will submit all the drinking water products to four rounds of testing. “For some products we found bacteria only after the fourth test,” he said.

Than Htut said the department is trying to speed up the registration process and quickly test the samples from those applying for a licence.

“Some producers have complained that the department takes a long time to register the products. We are trying to quicken the pace, but producers still need to obey the guidelines,” he said.

If consumers encountered poor quality or unregistered water it should be reported to the department.

A spokeswoman for the Food and Drug Administration in Yangon Region said market checks will be an ongoing event.

“We have already warned the producers and made announcements about the need to register all products,” she said. “If the people drink unqualified water, it may not be safe for them”.

The FDA has registered 974 purified water drinking products. Producers need to register their products with the FDA, and also obtain a production licence from the Ministry of Industry and the City Development Committee after securing the approval of the FDA.

In 2015, the FDA accidentally let slip preliminary findings from unpublished research on Yangon’s water supply that showed 44% of popular brands were contaminated, sometimes with potentially deadly bacteria such as E coli. The brand names of the offending water companies were never publicly released.