Two different drinking water brands in the U.S. have faced recalls, with agencies issuing warnings to consumers around the nation.
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"A recall is a method of removing or correcting products that are in violation of laws administered by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)," the FDA states on its website. "Recall is a voluntary action that takes place because manufacturers and distributors carry out their responsibility to protect the public health and well-being from products that present a risk of injury or gross deception or are otherwise defective."
The two different drinking water brands that were recently recalled by the FDA include water bottles sold by the Fiji water brand and Waiakea Hawaiian Volcanic Water brand.
In March, the FDA announced a widespread recall for more than 70,000 cases of Fiji Natural Artesian Water bottles over concerns they contained high levels of manganese.
"Firm testing revealed manganese in addition to three bacterial genera," the FDA said in an initial recall statement in March.
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However, last month, the FDA posted an update to its recall of Fiji Natural Artesian Water bottles, lowering the warning to a Class III recall.
The FDA website states that a Class III recall is "a situation in which use of, or exposure to, a violative product is not likely to cause adverse health consequences."
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that manganese is a trace element and eating a small amount is needed to stay healthy. Manganese concentrations in bottled drinking water should not exceed 0.05 milligrams per liter, the FDA states.
In a statement to Newsweek last month, a Fiji spokesperson said: "It is also important to note that there is NO RISK of high manganese exposure from the levels of manganese in FIJI Water."
"We have conducted numerous tests and analysis on this, and consumers can be assured that there is no health or safety risk with FIJI Water. We voluntarily recalled the product out of an abundance of caution," the spokesperson told Newsweek.
In April, the FDA issued a second drinking water recall for the "Waiakea Hawaiian Volcanic Water Naturally Alkaline Electrolytes Deep Well Water 1.0 Liter" bottles.
The recall was issued after consumer complaints that they noticed floating particles in some of the specific water bottles.
It was determined as a Class II recall, which is defined by the FDA as "situation in which use of, or exposure to, a violative product may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences or where the probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote."
According to the recall announcement, the Waiakea Hawaiian Volcanic Water Naturally Alkaline Electrolytes Deep Well Water bottles were sold in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Michigan, Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia and Colorado. The recall states that there was "no foreign distribution," for the specific product.
Newsweek reached out to the Waiakea company via email for comment.
