Overgovernment: Yes, Europe, Water Does Hydrate

Written by Brian Garst, Posted in Big Government, The Nanny State & A Regulated Society

The overgoverned laughingstock that is Europe continues to deliver:

EU bans claim that water can prevent dehydration

EU officials concluded that, following a three-year investigation, there was no evidence to prove the previously undisputed fact.

Producers of bottled water are now forbidden by law from making the claim and will face a two-year jail sentence if they defy the edict, which comes into force in the UK next month.

Last night, critics claimed the EU was at odds with both science and common sense. Conservative MEP Roger Helmer said: “This is stupidity writ large.

“The euro is burning, the EU is falling apart and yet here they are: highly-paid, highly-pensioned officials worrying about the obvious qualities of water and trying to deny us the right to say what is patently true.

“If ever there were an episode which demonstrates the folly of the great European project then this is it.”

Three years of study by serious “scientists” no doubt – you know, the same folk warning that the planet is about to blow up – and they’ve determined it’s not accurate to claim that water (hydration) does not help prevent dehydration. In essence, water does not help prevent the absence of water.

Oh sure, they have at least a weak justification for their conclusions:

Prof Brian Ratcliffe, spokesman for the Nutrition Society, said dehydration was usually caused by a clinical condition and that one could remain adequately hydrated without drinking water.

He said: “The EU is saying that this does not reduce the risk of dehydration and that is correct.

“This claim is trying to imply that there is something special about bottled water which is not a reasonable claim.”

But the esteemed ivory tower egghead is wrong, water does reduce the risk of dehydration. Mr. Egghead has confused “reduce” for “eliminate”. Yes, you can become dehydrated even if you drink adequate amounts of water, as there are some causes for which that is insufficient. You can also hydrate without drinking pure water because water is an ingredient in so many things. But the claim is not that drinking water guarantees no dehydration, merely that it makes it less likely to happen.

One wonders, as Europe teeters over the edge of a fiscal precipice, just how much money European taxpayers wasted on this pseudo-science.

Europe Overgovernment