captainresin
04-03-2009, 11:00 PM
In the last week a bottled water dispenser/vending machine has been installed in my school's sixth form common room. Now; whilst having a machine selling bottles of water is bad enough considering our school is an "ECO" school as everyone knows putting what is effectively fortified (I'll get to this) tap water into a plastic bottle (made from oil), is an excellent use of our planets quickly diminishing natural resources.
In defense of the school the water machine is provided as part of the catering contract with a company called Independant Catering http://www.independentcatering.co.uk/ and sells specifically the Pennine Spring variety of bottled water. This water is made by the soft drink manufacturer BritVic, okay we are also a what's known as a healthy school too (which in my experience means you are only allowed one spoonful of cheese in your pasta king which is not enough for somebody with a minor cheese affliction), so as soon as I saw who owned the machine my spidey senses instantly perked up. This catering company happens to be a pretty big company catering to these schools among many others;
Beaverwood School
Carshalton High School for Girls
Darrick Wood School
Dover Grammar School for Girls
Grammar School for Girls Wilmington
Langley Park School for Boys
Norton Knatchbull
St Catherine's Catholic School for Girls
T.W.G.G.S.
The Bradbourne School
The Judd School
The Skinners' School
Wallington High School for Girls
These have been the only schools I have been able to get info on from this page https://secure.independentcatering.co.uk/ but it is clear that many other schools all across Britain are using this company. I assume that Independent Catering has their own contract with BritVic to sell Pennine Spring in all of these other schools.
So what's so bad about Pennine Spring's "natural" bottled water I hear you ask?
Well after doing some quick googling I came across a table that contains the data regarding the mineral content in all of the major brands of bottled water in the UK http://www.fsmq.org/data//files/fmsasminersi-3742.doc and what i found was that out of all the major brands Pennine Spring has the HIGHEST FLUORIDE CONTENT!
Calcium Magnesium Sodium Potassium Iron Bicarbonate Chloride Sulphate Nitrate Fluoride Aluminium
Minton 13.6 9.2 18.5 2 0.01 0.1 15.7 26
Ashbrook 14 5.1 13 1.4 22.7 24.5 13
Cumbrian 22 4 16.5 1.5 43 22 15 31 0.1
Buxton 55 19 24 1 248 42 23 <0.1 0
Chiltern Hills 104 1.4 8 <1 0.02 293 15 12 5 0.1
Badoit 190 85 150 10 1300 40 40 1
Naya 38 22 6 2 243 1 17 <0.05
Abbey Wells 54 36 45 7.5 173 80 28 0.9 0.09
Ballygowan 114 16 15 3 400 28 15 9
Highland Spring 35 8.5 6 0.6 <0.01 136 7.5 6 <1 <0.1 <0.01
Volvic 9.9 6.1 9.4 5.7 <0.01 65.3 8.4 6.9 6.3 <0.01
Ada Spring 59.7 20.4 42.5 4.7 287 60.4 20.7 1.6
Scottish Tesco 18 7.1 7.1 3.4 62 13.5 6.3 0.8 0.07
Irish Tesco 36 33 68 1 54 75 0.5
Coldwell Spring 22 4 16.5 1.5 22 15 7 0.013
Pennine Spring 64 23 34 5 319 51 27 2.2 <b>0.18</b>
Tesco Value 64 23 34 5 319 51 27 2.2 0.18
Please go to and look for yourself at this http://www.fsmq.org/data//files/fmsasminersi-3742.doc as that grid doesn't really transfer very well.
It is very alarming to me that the only bottled water they are pushing in schools is the one with the highest fluoride content, especially when there are many scientifically quantifiable NEGATIVE EFFECTS that this chemical has on the human brain and body.
See http://www.wholywater.com/fluoride.html note how it affects our DNA.
See http://www.wddty.com/03363800372353635822/fluoride-lowering-iq-s.html You would have thought that a school wants to increase the childs IQ?
See http://www.mind-trek.com/arti-int/961202c.txt notice how fluoride makes people more submissive, perfect in a school.
This makes me furious and I suggest you find out if your school / child's school is hiring this company and write a letter explaining the dangers of fluoride to your respective head of school and governors as I plan on doing. It is so annoying how most people I tell about this do not seem to realize that it is a problem.
Please post your opinions on this topic
Peace and love.
In defense of the school the water machine is provided as part of the catering contract with a company called Independant Catering http://www.independentcatering.co.uk/ and sells specifically the Pennine Spring variety of bottled water. This water is made by the soft drink manufacturer BritVic, okay we are also a what's known as a healthy school too (which in my experience means you are only allowed one spoonful of cheese in your pasta king which is not enough for somebody with a minor cheese affliction), so as soon as I saw who owned the machine my spidey senses instantly perked up. This catering company happens to be a pretty big company catering to these schools among many others;
Beaverwood School
Carshalton High School for Girls
Darrick Wood School
Dover Grammar School for Girls
Grammar School for Girls Wilmington
Langley Park School for Boys
Norton Knatchbull
St Catherine's Catholic School for Girls
T.W.G.G.S.
The Bradbourne School
The Judd School
The Skinners' School
Wallington High School for Girls
These have been the only schools I have been able to get info on from this page https://secure.independentcatering.co.uk/ but it is clear that many other schools all across Britain are using this company. I assume that Independent Catering has their own contract with BritVic to sell Pennine Spring in all of these other schools.
So what's so bad about Pennine Spring's "natural" bottled water I hear you ask?
Well after doing some quick googling I came across a table that contains the data regarding the mineral content in all of the major brands of bottled water in the UK http://www.fsmq.org/data//files/fmsasminersi-3742.doc and what i found was that out of all the major brands Pennine Spring has the HIGHEST FLUORIDE CONTENT!
Calcium Magnesium Sodium Potassium Iron Bicarbonate Chloride Sulphate Nitrate Fluoride Aluminium
Minton 13.6 9.2 18.5 2 0.01 0.1 15.7 26
Ashbrook 14 5.1 13 1.4 22.7 24.5 13
Cumbrian 22 4 16.5 1.5 43 22 15 31 0.1
Buxton 55 19 24 1 248 42 23 <0.1 0
Chiltern Hills 104 1.4 8 <1 0.02 293 15 12 5 0.1
Badoit 190 85 150 10 1300 40 40 1
Naya 38 22 6 2 243 1 17 <0.05
Abbey Wells 54 36 45 7.5 173 80 28 0.9 0.09
Ballygowan 114 16 15 3 400 28 15 9
Highland Spring 35 8.5 6 0.6 <0.01 136 7.5 6 <1 <0.1 <0.01
Volvic 9.9 6.1 9.4 5.7 <0.01 65.3 8.4 6.9 6.3 <0.01
Ada Spring 59.7 20.4 42.5 4.7 287 60.4 20.7 1.6
Scottish Tesco 18 7.1 7.1 3.4 62 13.5 6.3 0.8 0.07
Irish Tesco 36 33 68 1 54 75 0.5
Coldwell Spring 22 4 16.5 1.5 22 15 7 0.013
Pennine Spring 64 23 34 5 319 51 27 2.2 <b>0.18</b>
Tesco Value 64 23 34 5 319 51 27 2.2 0.18
Please go to and look for yourself at this http://www.fsmq.org/data//files/fmsasminersi-3742.doc as that grid doesn't really transfer very well.
It is very alarming to me that the only bottled water they are pushing in schools is the one with the highest fluoride content, especially when there are many scientifically quantifiable NEGATIVE EFFECTS that this chemical has on the human brain and body.
See http://www.wholywater.com/fluoride.html note how it affects our DNA.
See http://www.wddty.com/03363800372353635822/fluoride-lowering-iq-s.html You would have thought that a school wants to increase the childs IQ?
See http://www.mind-trek.com/arti-int/961202c.txt notice how fluoride makes people more submissive, perfect in a school.
This makes me furious and I suggest you find out if your school / child's school is hiring this company and write a letter explaining the dangers of fluoride to your respective head of school and governors as I plan on doing. It is so annoying how most people I tell about this do not seem to realize that it is a problem.
Please post your opinions on this topic
Peace and love.