The French government's susceptibility to pressure from Nestlé, all the way up to the Elysée Palace, has triggered a scandal that continues to spread: These are the damning conclusions of the Sénat investigative commission charged with looking into fraud involving natural mineral waters (namely, the use of prohibited filters to purify water contaminated by pesticides and fecal bacteria) revealed in January 2024 by Le Monde and Radio France. After six months of work, the parliamentary investigative commission, chaired by Laurent Burgoa, a conservative senator from the southern Gard region where the Perrier plant is located, presented its conclusions on Monday, May 19. Le Monde and Franceinfo had access to the report.

A new episode revealed by the investigative commission illustrates what rapporteur Alexandre Ouizille called "the dangerous liaisons between the government and Nestlé," and how the government folded to the lobbying of the agro-food giant to the detriment of consumer protection. The commission shows how a report from the regional health agency (ARS) of the southwest Occitanie region was toned down at the request of the world's number one bottled water company, following exchanges between the office of the junior minister for health (at the time Agnès Firmin Le Bodo), the director general of the ARS and the prefect of Gard to remove certain mentions of contamination of Perrier sources by banned pesticides and bacteria.

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