A Guide to Commercially-Bottled Water and Other Beverages
ShareCompartir
If you drink commercially-bottled water, read the label and look for this information.
Water labeled with any of the four messages below has been processed by a method effective against Crypto
- Reverse osmosis treated
- Distilled
- Filtered through an absolute 1 micron or smaller filter
- "One micron absolute"
Water labeled with the messages below MAY NOT have been processed by a method effective against Crypto
- Filtered
- Micro-filtered
- Carbon-filtered
- Particle-filtered
- Multimedia-filtered
- Ozonated
- Ozone-treated
- Ultraviolet light-treated
- Activated carbon-treated
- Carbon dioxide-treated
- Ion exchange-treated
- Deionized
- Purified
- Chlorinated
Commercially-bottled water labels reading "well water," "artesian well water," "spring water," or "mineral water" do not guarantee that the water does not contain Crypto. However, commercially-bottled water that comes from protected wells or protected springs is less likely to contain Crypto than water from less protected sources, such as rivers and lakes. Any bottled water (no matter what the source) that has been treated by one or more of the four methods listed in the left box above should have removed or inactivated Crypto.
Other Beverages
Soft drinks and other beverages may or may not contain Cryptosporidium (Crypto) parasites. You need to know how they were prepared to know if they might contain Crypto.
If you drink prepared drinks, look for drinks prepared in a manner that removes Crypto:
Drinks that ARE safe
- Carbonated (bubbly) drinks in cans or bottles
- Commercially-prepared fruit drinks in cans or bottles
- Steaming hot (175 degrees F or hotter) tea or coffee
- Pasteurized drinks
Drinks that may NOT be safe
- Fountain drinks
- Fruit drinks you mix using frozen concentrate and tap water
- Iced tea or iced coffee
Juices made from fresh fruit can also be contaminated with Crypto. For example, an outbreak of cryptosporidiosis occurred in Ohio resulting in people becoming ill after drinking apple cider made from apples contaminated with Crypto. You may wish to avoid unpasteurized juices or fresh juices if you do not know how they were prepared.
- Page last reviewed: February 27, 2015
- Page last updated: February 27, 2015
- Content source: