Nutrient minerals in commercially available bottled waters of Bangladesh: dietary implications

Abstract

This study assesses the quality of drinking water from commercially available bottled waters in Bangladesh in terms of nutrient minerals and estimates their contribution in fulfilling the dietary requirements from such minerals. Ca, Mg, Na, trace element concentration and other physical parameters of the various bottled waters were investigated and compared on 13 samples of major local and imported brands of bottled water collected from local markets. It was found that imported brands had significantly high levels of bicarbonates (245 to 485 mg/l) compared to local brands (12.27 to 86.87 mg/l). Imported brands also had distinctively high levels of calcium (average concentration108.56 mg/l) and magnesium (average concentration 18.49 mg/L) concentrations compared to local brands and can fulfil upto 19.8% and 16.6% of the calcium and magnesium dietary reference intake (DRI) requirement respectively (for an average male). The DRI fulfilment from local brands hardly exceeded 3.3% for calcium and 7.3% for magnesium. The lack of mineral in local brands can be attributed to inadequate mineral amendments after extensive demineralization treatment. This study suggests that most of the local brands of bottled water in the market,poor in mineral content, may have negative dietary implications for long term consumption.Bangladesh J. Sci. Ind. Res. 51(2), 111-120, 2016