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EU bans claim that water can prevent dehydration

Renae

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EU officials concluded that, following a three-year investigation, there was no evidence to prove the previously undisputed fact.Producers of bottled water are now forbidden by law from making the claim and will face a two-year jail sentence if they defy the edict, which comes into force in the UK next month.

Last night, critics claimed the EU was at odds with both science and common sense. Conservative MEP Roger Helmer said: “This is stupidity writ large.

“The euro is burning, the EU is falling apart and yet here they are: highly-paid, highly-pensioned officials worrying about the obvious qualities of water and trying to deny us the right to say what is patently true.
EU bans claim that water can prevent dehydration - Telegraph


Remind me a again why we should follow the European way of doing business? THREE YEARS to come up with this ****?

For reals?
 
EU bans claim that water can prevent dehydration - Telegraph


Remind me a again why we should follow the European way of doing business? THREE YEARS to come up with this ****?

For reals?

:lol: While I don't deny we need water, generally speaking unless we are so ill we are barely conscious, our bodies tell us when to drink it, so we do not need to be deliberately timing our consumption.

I don't know. If the water manufacturers are exploiting neurotic people and parents fears for their children by making them believe they need to consciously drink water at particular times, water paid for and carried in plastic bottles to school or work which themselves pollute the atmosphere, I can see the EU point. We don't need more neurotic people. Unless we are going on a survival expedition, for most people their bodies will tell them when they need water.

The tactic seems exploitative.
 
:lol: While I don't deny we need water, generally speaking unless we are so ill we are barely conscious, our bodies tell us when to drink it, so we do not need to be deliberately timing our consumption.

I don't know. If the water manufacturers are exploiting neurotic people and parents fears for their children by making them believe they need to consciously drink water at particular times, water paid for and carried in plastic bottles to school or work which themselves pollute the atmosphere, I can see the EU point. We don't need more neurotic people. Unless we are going on a survival expedition, for most people their bodies will tell them when they need water.

The tactic seems exploitative.

But that's not the issue they're "combating"

Honestly - I don't know what they're combating . . . but they sure have a good measure of ****ing stupid.
 
But that's not the issue they're "combating"

Honestly - I don't know what they're combating . . . but they sure have a good measure of ****ing stupid.

Well I was guessing at what they were combating. From a link in that article

The NHS Choices website states: “Try to drink about six to eight glasses of water (or other fluids) a day to prevent dehydration."

Many schools get so hung up on the advice that they insist that pupils bring a bottle of water to school with them.

But Margaret McCartney, a Glasgow GP, said there was no firm evidence backing up claims that drinking so much was necessary to prevent dehydration.

She said the recommendation was "not only nonsense, but thoroughly debunked nonsense".

Writing an opinion piece in the BMJ, she said several studies showed no clear benefit of drinking large amounts of water.

Advice to drink eight glasses of water daily 'nonsense' - Telegraph

Usually when silly stories like this one come out, there is a different issue which it is relating to. My guess was that people were getting neurotic about drinking water - something I have never known any healthy person to have a problem being aware of knowing when they need and that this was being exploited by bottled water producers. If we did enough research we would find out but I am not motivated - as I say my guess is it is a bit different to what is being reported.
 
They need to drink 8 coca-colas a day. That'll be better. Oh, wait...
 
This advice (not a rule) was issued regarding a hypothetical (and possibly vexatious) request regarding labelling on bottled water. The response is in terms of a health claim which is medically unfounded. Plain water does not help dehydration.
More to the point the advice was issued last February, so why the hysterical stupidity surrounding it now?
 
This advice (not a rule) was issued regarding a hypothetical (and possibly vexatious) request regarding labelling on bottled water. The response is in terms of a health claim which is medically unfounded. Plain water does not help dehydration.
More to the point the advice was issued last February, so why the hysterical stupidity surrounding it now?

Actually, large amounts of water alone are not good for you, as they tend to increase the amounts of electrolytes that are eliminated by the body. There is no doubt that you need water, but the title of the article by the Telegraph implies that the EU claims water itself does not help dehydration. To understand the context, you need to read the entire article, especially THIS paragraph:

They applied for the right to state that “regular consumption of significant amounts of water can reduce the risk of development of dehydration” as well as preventing a decrease in performance.

Not only is the statement that water companies applied for scientifically inaccurate, but taken to its extreme, significant amounts of water can actually kill you by causing the body to eliminate significant amounts of electrolytes.

The EU took the right action in denying the right to print a deceptive statement on its bottles. That it took 3 years for the EU to come to this conclusion is what makes them idiots.
 
This is just stupid. nanny gov nonsense.
 
Well I was guessing at what they were combating. From a link in that article



Advice to drink eight glasses of water daily 'nonsense' - Telegraph

Usually when silly stories like this one come out, there is a different issue which it is relating to. My guess was that people were getting neurotic about drinking water - something I have never known any healthy person to have a problem being aware of knowing when they need and that this was being exploited by bottled water producers. If we did enough research we would find out but I am not motivated - as I say my guess is it is a bit different to what is being reported.

But does that necessitate their reaction - potential fine or jail time for pointing out that water can stave off dehydration?

I think their response is silly.

I drink a surplus of water daily - and my intestinal ailment stays at bay - so I drink it regardless. Everyone has their own reasons. During the summer when dehydration is a more potential hazard I also eat salty foods like nuts while doing yard work. Watch them spite that next.
 
That's the point. Salts and glucose, vital for rehydration, are not present in bottled water.
 
I liked the "we are neither surprised nor delighted" comment. That was wonderful.
 
I liked the "we are neither surprised nor delighted" comment. That was wonderful.

Well - all them bent bananas and curved cucumbers, eh?

I mean - my gawd - the nerve of someone to have curved cucumbers in a salad with a banana on the side and a tall drink of ice cold water - geesh - nothing like becoming gilded by lies and drowning ones self in this faux sense of healthiness! The Humanity.
 
EU bans claim that water can prevent dehydration - Telegraph


Remind me a again why we should follow the European way of doing business? THREE YEARS to come up with this ****?

For reals?

Right, and while our economy stagnates and Congress is patently incapable of taking any substative action to address the situation, Republicans in Congress take the time to vote on a measure REaffirming that the U.S. motto is "in God we trust". I guess just in case someone forgot?
 
I agree with the commission's decision. As the Nutrition Society spokesman said "This claim is trying to imply that there is something special about bottled water which is not a reasonable claim.”.

Plus, dehydration is not really a disease, it is a condition. The companies tried to make a claim basically trying to suggest that water (specifically bottled water) could keep them from developing the disease of dehydration. Although, yes, water will help keep people from getting dehydrated, a) any clean, fresh water source is sufficient in aiding this and b) it would be no more accurate to imply dehydration is a disease than it is to imply that simple cuts on your feet or skin are diseases. I don't think it would be any better for a shoe company to actually place the claim on their box that "wearing shoes helps prevent sore feet". Although the statement by itself is true, it does not give a true picture in that it omits the conditions that make it a completely accurate statement, such as the fact that wearing any shoes outside or in places where sharp objects or other foot hazards may be will help to prevent such things as well.
 
"drink 6 of these or you may die of dehydration"

hmm...sounds like a crappy claim to make.
 
This is awesome! It's Darwinism at work. There are dumb ****s out there that will believe that water will not hydrate their bodies, not drink water in hot conditions, when there bodies are losing water by the gallons and they will die.

I'm not seeing the down side, here.
 
Obviously those damned euro-socialists aren't drinking enough water. When they piss it it looks like Guiness Stout. Personally I drink so much water and soda that my urine is actually potable. Just ask American. :D
 
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This is awesome! It's Darwinism at work. There are dumb ****s out there that will believe that water will not hydrate their bodies, not drink water in hot conditions, when there bodies are losing water by the gallons and they will die.

I'm not seeing the down side, here.


Why don't you try drinking as much water as you can as fast as you can, and we'll see if Darwinism works in your case as well. Water is just like anything else, too much and it's bad for your body.
 
yeh I know I mean look at America, economy is in ruins but they have their eye on the big picture gay marraige and building electric fences across a border...

Do you suppose it's occurred to them that those electric fences may actually prevent Mexicans who can't find jobs here from going back to Mexico? :lol:
 
The ruling, decision, advice, whatever you want to call it is of course an absolute joke. Water is of course absolutely necessary to avoid dehydration and to solve dehydration. And of course, strictly medically speaking, there is more to solving dehydration than merely water and by that I mean strictly H2O, this is because dehydration has both a medical definition and common definition. Absolute plain water doesn't help a person in need of electrolytes, the loss of which is considered by the medical definition to be dehydration the same as a loss of H2O in a person.

Thats the point the EU council has made their decision on. Its a ridiculous decision because of the obvious reaction people will have to it, and because obviously water solves dehydration when the body is short of water, just not absolute pure water when the body needs electrolytes.

The real problem with this isn't the gray area between medical definitions, its the amount of time, energy, and money spent on the small small issue of what it says on the side of a bottle of water.
 
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