Perrier given two months to stop using water filters

French authorities ordered Nestle on Wednesday to stop filtering its Perrier and held back on allowing the under-pressure brand from using the description “natural mineral water”.

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The government prefect for the southern Gard region, where Perrier is extracted and bottled, said the product was not a risk to consumers.

But having to remove the filtering system within two months was a new blow for its owner Nestle Waters, which has said that at the peak of its popularity sold nearly one billion bottles a year in 140 countries around the world.

The Swiss food and drinks conglomerate has been under pressure for some time over Perrier and other brands as EU regulations strictly limit what treatments are allowed for any product marketed as natural mineral water.

Nestle Waters said in a statement that it would comply with the order to stop microfiltering and that was “determined to seek solutions” that would allow the prefect to renew authorisation to use the ‘natural mineral water’ description.