Tannourine allowed to resume water distribution, health minister says

BEIRUT — Bottled water company Tannourine can once again “produce, bottle and distribute drinking water across Lebanese territory,” Health Minister Rakan Nasreddine announced during a press conference Saturday. “We announce the lifting of the suspension,” he said.

On Monday, the ministry issued a circular announcing that a bacterium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, had been detected in Tannourine bottled water and ordered its temporary withdrawal from the market.

The next day, George Makhoul, the company's board chairman, refuted the claim, saying the samples had been improperly collected. Additional tests conducted by the Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute, affiliated with the Agriculture Ministry, found the samples to be “in compliance” with health standards, Agriculture Minister Nizar Hani announced Thursday.

During the press conference, Nasreddine reviewed the course of events. He said the Health Ministry decided to collect samples after receiving social media complaints about problems with Tannourine water. The epidemiological surveillance team then collected six samples from the Lebanese market and sent them to Rafik Hariri University Hospital.

The drama

Industry leaders criticize tests behind ban on Tannourine water

According to Nassereddine, three of the samples tested positive for contamination. “Subsequently, 11 samples were collected at the factory, and the analyses showed the presence of the same bacterium in one of them,” he said. Samples were also taken from the company’s water tanks. After these tests, production and distribution were temporarily suspended as a “precautionary measure.”

The minister denied any sectarian bias after the ministry’s decision surprisingly sparked backlash on social media and accusations of “corruption.” He said Saturday that “the health of the Lebanese knows no color, sect, or political affiliation, and the Health Ministry has always been — and will remain — in the service of all Lebanese.”

Nasreddine also thanked Hani for his “courage” in signing the decision to withdraw Tannourine water while serving as acting health minister during Nassereddine’s travel abroad. Hani had faced harsh criticism for the move, with some individuals and organizations even calling for his resignation.

Following the incident, Nasreddine mentioned an ongoing project to establish a “central epidemiological and pharmaceutical laboratory,” noting that “since 2015, eight reference laboratories have been accredited under the supervision of the World Health Organization.”

The case also reached beyond Lebanon’s borders. On Tuesday, Qatar’s health minister announced that the country had “temporarily withdrawn from local markets, as a precautionary measure, bottled water produced in Lebanon under the Tannourine brand.”