The Prosecutor’s Office of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton (HNC) has initiated proceedings in the case of seven samples of bottled water in which, among others, the bacteria Escherichia coli, pseudomonas, and streptococci were found.
The case was formed against the director of the Institute for Public Health of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) Sinisa Skocibusic, other responsible persons of the Institute, and NN producers of bottled water.
The HNC Prosecutor’s Office took over this case from the Canton Sarajevo (CS) Prosecutor’s Office. Criminal charges were filed separately by lawyers Sead Miljkovic and Mirnes Ajanovic. In mid-December last year, the Prosecutor’s Office of CS got involved in the verification of allegations about potentially disputed bottled water.
It should be mentioned that the Institute for Public Health of the FBiH analyzed 70 samples of bottled water from October 2021 to September 2022. It found that the mentioned bacteria were found in seven samples, not wanting to publicly announce which manufacturers of bottled water the bacteria were found in.
The institute later downplayed the danger of the presence of the bacteria, assuring that “small amounts” of the bacteria are not dangerous to health. They refused to reveal what that “small amount” actually is.
However, this claim contradicts the original claim that bacteria should not have been present at all, which is also required by the Ordinance on natural mineral and spring waters, on the basis of which the Institute conducted the analysis.
The Federal Administration for Inspection Affairs and the Food Safety Agency of BiH announced in December 2022 that a subsequent analysis determined that the bottled water was actually microbiologically correct. So, those products were polluted, then they were slightly polluted, only to find out that they were not polluted at all – all in one month.
The key question, which the authorities have not yet answered, is whether the same or different samples of suspicious bottled water were analyzed twice, Klix.ba reports.
E.Dz.
