by Charles Gladden
BELIZE CITY, Mon. Nov. 25, 2024
A resident of Esperanza Village, Cayo District, took to social media on Friday, November 25, after discovering a lifeless frog inside a 5-gallon container of Crystal water that he had purchased.
The social media post indicated that the individual went to purchase the water from a nearby store to ensure sufficient supply for the week, and later discovered the dead frog floating around inside the sealed plastic container.
“Definitely for us, it was not expected. That’s something highly unusual for us. A strange occurrence to say the least,” said Rosanna Villanueva, Corporate Relations Manager at Bowen & Bowen Ltd., which sells the bottled water.
“… It is highly unusual. For us we found it strange. Crystal is a brand that has been around for decades, and is a brand that Belizeans trust. We want to assure our customers and consumers that they can continue feeling confident drinking Crystal water, and that is why we are putting our efforts into trying to identify what could have possibly happened,” she further stated.
Villanueva explained that Bowen & Bowen produces bottled water in four locations in the country, and that the water undergoes an extensive and rigorous purification process, and the specific bottle was distributed from the company’s plant in Esperanza.
“All our plants are subjected to the same protocols and procedures. The water is processed the same way as in our other locations. So, for us, we did find it highly unusual. Our Crystal water goes through an 11-step process to be purified, and it’s a closed process; so, from the water enters the system to when it goes into a bottle, that’s a closed process, so there’s no opportunity along the way to get in there,” she mentioned.
While this discovery is unusual for the company, Villanueva noted that Bowen’s quality control team is carrying out an investigation to determine what may have happened.
“At this point, we don’t know as yet. As I said, we’re looking into it. We have an entire quality control team that ensures all our facilities are producing and operating to the same standards, so they’re currently looking into it. As soon as we know anything, we will share it; but for right now, we are still in the process of looking as to what may have happened … It’s been something that we’ve been going through, and we’re doing all our processes and going through the steps one by one. No definite timeline for when we will have a response,” she explained.