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Below is a brief excerpt from a complementary research note written by our Consumer Staples analysts Howard Penney and Daniel Biolsi. We are pleased to announce our new Sector Pro Product Consumables Pro. Click HERE to learn more. |
Consumer Reports published an article yesterday testing heavy metals and PFAS chemicals in popular water brands.
Carbonated water was found to have higher levels of PFAS chemicals, and the article caused shares of National Beverage Corp. (FIZZ) to trade-off yesterday afternoon.
PFAS chemicals have been given the ominous name of "forever chemicals." The magazine tested 35 noncarbonated and 12 carbonated waters. The federal government has only issued voluntary guidance for PFAS, saying it should be below 70 parts per trillion.
Some states have lower limits of 12 to 20 ppt. At the same time, the International Bottled Water Association says it supports federal limits of 5 ppt for any single compound and ten ppt for more than one.
Only two of the noncarbonated waters tested had PFAS levels above one ppt, while seven of the 12 carbonated waters were above one ppt, as seen in the chart below.
This report will not be popular. If the higher PFAS levels are due to the carbonation process, then hard seltzer would seem to be at risk as well. Hard seltzer adds carbonation to the drink; it is not part of the brewing process.
When 2020 couldn't get any worse, one of our most popular drinks is bad for us?
Hold on, it's important to note that PFAS chemicals have been found in rainwater, so nearly all surface water has detectable levels.
The majority of municipality tap water has PFAS levels above 1. NYC tap water was found to be 2.3 ppt while Bergen County, NJ was at 51.4, and Miami was even higher.
So keep bubbling or get your water from wells several hundreds of feet deep.
