BRISBANE, Australia, April 6 (UPI) -- The bottled water Australians buy at food stores and restaurants is basically just filtered tap water, a consumer group said.
The Australian Consumers Association claimed people had been falsely led to believe that bottled water was safer and healthier than tap water, the Brisbane Courier Mail reported Tuesday.
"There is no reason to suggest that what they are getting sometimes is nothing other than just filtered tap water," said ACA food policy officer Clare Hughes.
An analysis of a range of popular bottled water products, compared with water straight from the tap, revealed tap water was often just as high or even better in mineral content, apart from the fact it contained fluoride for protection of teeth.
Tap water is also treated with chlorination, a process also permitted for bottled water.
However, bottled water is more commonly treated with carbon or ozone filtration.
