Highland Spring Still Natural Mineral Water

...Tennents ‘Special Brew’ as the highland drunkards choice in recent years.

2.RABBIE BURNS- Scots poet, wrote a poem about a mouse (Wee sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie) and is now more famous than Robert the Bruce or William Wallace, which just shows you where their priorities lie over the border, where a mouse can be held in higher esteem than two of their national heroes.

3.HAGGIS– National dish, ...
...animal that frolics in the highland heather, this is now a very old and tired joke, ranking only second believability to the Loch Ness monster bunkum, that we are all meant to fall for.

4.THE ROAD TO ENGLAND – the M6, say no more.

5.THE HIGHLAND FLING – Crazy Scottish dance, danced whilst drunk over crossed swords, particularly at New Year, or ‘hogmanay’, after consuming several tinnies of, Tennents ... more

TWELVE GREAT THINGS TO COME OUT OF SCOTLAND;

1.SCOTCH WHISKY- ‘afore ye go’, traditional scoots drink drunk instead of water, for most of the time, though has more recently been replaced by of Tennents ‘Special Brew’ as the highland drunkards choice in recent years.

2.RABBIE BURNS- Scots poet, wrote a poem about a mouse (Wee sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie) and is now more famous than Robert the Bruce or William Wallace, which just shows you where their priorities lie over the border, where a mouse can be held in higher esteem than two of their national heroes.

3.HAGGIS– National dish, made from sheep’s 'pluck' (heart, liver, and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally boiled in the animal's stomach for approximately an hour; thoroughly revolting. We (the English) are periodically, subjected to the myth (by them, the scoots) that the haggis is a wee animal that frolics in the highland heather, this is now a very old and tired joke, ranking only second believability to the Loch Ness monster bunkum, that we are all meant to fall for.

4.THE ROAD TO ENGLAND – the M6, say no more.

5.THE HIGHLAND FLING – Crazy Scottish dance, danced whilst drunk over crossed swords, particularly at New Year, or ‘hogmanay’, after consuming several tinnies of, Tennents ‘Special Brew’, and often performed in the street, over the crushed empties of same, by visiting Scotsman to my little part of England, on their ‘way hame’, to the caves of Glasgae, or some such place.

6.DRUNKEN HOOLIGANS – Glaswegians lolling around blootered, at London train stations, and various football gangs.

7.SEAN CONNERY - Supposedly the ‘best’ James Bond (personally I prefer Roger Moore)

8. THE BAY CITY ROLLERS-– tragic Glaswegian pop band of the seventies, recently reprised on the X-factor by the McDonald brothers who sealed the kiss of death on their chances of winning by singing, ‘Shang-a-Lang’, I think they must have been fuelled by Tennents Special Brew, when they made that decision, as it was a truly cringe worthy performance. No serious evaluation of Scottish music would be complete without due homage to the triumph of tartan tat that was the phenomenon of the Rollers. Their "songs", most notably "Shang-a-Lang", were pure, manufactured bubblegum pop. Post-Roller mania has not been kind to the lads. Bankruptcy, in-fighting, manslaughter charges, child pornography convictions (not all of them) and most damning of all, a Hollywood film. Scottish culture at it’s most iconic, as culturally sound as the deep-fried Mars bar, drunken hooligans, blagging huge amounts of money for tat, and wasting it on booze.

9.NORTH SEA OIL- Scotlands biggest natural resource of the 20th century stolen by the English, tee hee…!

10. TARTAN– invented by the English, actually, a Victorian invention, derived from the Scottish Plaid, which was the traditional, weave worn by the Scotts Highlanders. It’s a bit like heraldry in this country; most of the tartans are about as old as…well just not very old, and not very authentic. Without tartan however, we wouldn’t have the ubiquitous wee tartan drummer girls, a particular favourite of mine, or the bay city rollers, or tartan shortbread, or tartan golf trousers, or….

11. ‘SCOTTIE’ off ‘Star-trek’ – the renowned sci-fi series from the 60’s famous for saying “the engines can nae talk any more captain !”.

and last but by no means least

12. BOTTLED SPRING WATER ? – huh ?

I can’t decide what to make of bottled water, there are many claims made for it yet I have my doubts as to the value of it. For one thing there wouldn’t be enough to supply the whole country if we all wanted it, and what does that say bout the rest of us if we can only afford tap water. Are we drinking from a poisoned chalice ? (tap water) whilst all the POSH people are quaffing the bottled stuff ?

I think the Scots are having their revenge on us for stealing their North Sea oil, which was the biggest natural resource found in Scottish territory in the last century. They have never forgiven the English for stealing it and now they are having bottles of water exported to us as vastly inflated prices, to make up for the lost revenue. I think they are having a laugh but who can blame them I think if we were able to steal their water as well I think we would.

NATURAL MINERAL WATER

Many people now prefer bottled water versus tap water for a variety of reasons. They may not like the taste, smell, or colour of tap water. Others are worried about their health and see bottled water as more natural, pure, and a healthier alternative to tap water. But not all bottled waters have the same qualities. Highland Spring is a Natural Mineral Water, but just how much or the claims that are made for this premium product actually ‘hold water’.

Criteria for certification of bottled water

1) Must come from a specified groundwater source, protected from all kinds of pollution.

2) Must be officially recognised after a qualifying period of two years

3) Must be untreated and bottled at source

4) The label must carry the proper description 'Natural Mineral Water', which cannot be used for any other types of bottled water

5) The label must show the name of the recognised source and mineral content values.

Not all bottled waters are Natural Mineral Waters. Highland Spring achieved this designation in 1985. It is bottled in its wholesome, natural state and is pollution free, with a stable mineral content.

Each Natural Mineral Water has a unique mineral content dependent on the geological characteristics of the catchments area. Highland Spring’s natural minerals are derived from the water percolating and filtering through the layers of rock under its organic catchments area in the Ochil Hills. Highland Spring is low in minerals, salts and nitrates and suitable for people on low sodium diets.

Highland Spring is low in minerals, salts and nitrates and is bottled from a protected underground source where nothing is added or removed and the product is untouched by human hand. Only carbon dioxide is added to create Highland Spring Sparkling water. This to me would make it ineligible for the label natural mineral because it has patently had an addition?

HAM-A-HADIE…?

I can’t decide whether I believe all this stuff about mineral water/spring water being better for you or with it smells a bit of Ham-a-Hadie. I can’t help thinking of the ‘Only fools and horses’ episode where Del boy and Rodney’ were bottling ‘spring water’ from their council allotment and selling it as mineral water, when it was actually just coming from a leaky tap.

I am not convinced that Highland spring is the elixir of life that it is marketed as. The elixir of life, also known as the elixir of immortality or Dancing Water and sometimes equated with the Philosopher's stone, is a legendary potion, or drink, that grants the drinker eternal life or eternal youth, or generally just has magic properties.

Myth 1 - Spring water is the subject of many popular misconceptions. For example, many people believe spring water is actually "pure" water. On the contrary, spring waters contain many of the same impurities and contaminants found in drilled wells or even tap water. Water purity is often represented numerically by "Total Dissolved Solids," or TDS, which measures the concentration of soluble impurities in pure H2O. On average, the purity of spring water is roughly comparable to tap water on a TDS basis.

How, then, can spring water bottlers advertise their product as "100% pure" spring water? As it turns out, the term "100% pure" refers not to the lack of impurities in the water, but to the source of the water. That is, 100% of the water in the bottle came from an underground source rather than a surface water source. These cleverly worded claims may be legally permissible, but many people find them misleading, to say the least.

Myth 2 - "Natural" - Another adjective which seems to pop up frequently in spring water advertising is "natural." While this term may conjure up images of a pristine wilderness setting, the fact is that "natural" could mean just about anything. This vague term even applies to tap water, since tap water is ultimately derived from a "natural" source. Come to think of it, what’s”unnatural" water?

Myth 3 - "Protected source" is yet another spring water sales claim that can be easily misinterpreted. When most people hear this term, the common image is a remote mountain spring, miles from the nearest civilization. The reality is more likely to be a locally drilled well and pumping station surrounded by a chain link fence. Hence, the "protected" source!

Myth 4 - It's also worth looking at spring water bottling practices. Most spring waters are not bottled at the source. Instead, the product is pumped into large tanker trucks for transportation to a bottling facility at another location. While the water is in the tanker truck, health regulations actually require the water to be chlorinated, exactly as municipal tap water supplies are chlorinated, as a protection against bacterial contamination.

At this point, these spring waters are virtually indistinguishable from tap water. Once the water reaches the bottling facility, a carbon filtering process is typically used to remove chlorine before bottling. However, most other impurities remain in the water. By no means could this water be considered "pure."

Myth 5 - Mineral waters are also subject to many of the same misconceptions as spring waters. However, in some cases the marketing of these products can be even more misleading. The term "mineral water" logically seems to suggest that the product contains large amounts of beneficial minerals. In reality, a review of the actual amounts present shows that the quantities of things like calcium and magnesium are typically quite small - in most cases less than 1% of the Recommended Daily Allowance per serving.

THE CLAIMS

This list of claims is cited by Highland Spring water on their website, however, if you read the wording carefully that these claims actually refer to drinking ‘water’ and not drinking Highland spring water, specifically, which is something I missed when I first skimmed though it. It smacks of snake oil salesmen and medicine shows to me.

Medicine shows were travelling horse and buggy teams, which peddled miracle medications and other products between various entertainment acts. They were most common in the United States in the 19th century (though they continued up to World War II). The product most commonly associated with medicine shows is an elixir (also known as snake oil) which was touted to cure diseases, smooth facial wrinkles, remove stains in clothing, prolong life, or cure any number of common ailments. Entertainment often included a freak show, a flea circus, musical acts, magic tricks, jokes, and storytelling. I think the descendants of these showmen may now be found working in the advertising department of Highland Spring Water.

Muscleman acts were especially popular on these tours, for this enabled the salesman to tout the physical vigour offered by the potion he was selling. The showmen frequently employed shills, who would step forward from the crowd and offer "unsolicited" testimonials about the benefits of the medicine for sale Oftentimes, the ‘nostrum’ was manufactured and bottled in the same wagon that the show travelled in, much like Del and Rodney’s water from a leaky tap.

I just get the feeling that we are all being conned by the snake oil salesmen at Highland Spring, just a little bit sometimes, by selling us a ‘nostrum’ something which is a premium product, at a premium price, for nothing more than a bottle of water. After reading all the claims for this wonderful scoots tonic I half expect to be performing feats of great strength or skill, and to see cripples throw away there crutches, and dance a highland jig, after a swig of this magical ‘Adam’s ale’.

WATER IN YOUR DAILY DIET

The health benefits of drinking water are many and varied. When it comes to looking after your body, the importance of drinking water cannot be understated. Drinking water can benefit your health and your body in so many ways. The health benefits claimed by highland spring seem a little bit spurious to me, and if they have no other special claims other than drinking water is essential or you will die, which most people would no then their sales pitch is a little weak in my opinion, it seems they have no real

1) Revitalise your Skin “Skin is the body's biggest organ but if you're dehydrated your skin suffers. As beauty experts know, water is nature's best moisturiser. Drinking sufficient amounts will re-hydrate your skin from the inside”.

– Correct, but water is water as far as this goes and any water will do.

2) “Skin tends to become drier with age, so it is even more important to drink more water, as you grow older. The recommended daily intake of water for an average adult is 2 litres or 8 glasses”

– This seems like a lot and if you were to drink exclusively Highland Spring water, this would come to a handsome £12.82 per week, for one person and for the average family (4 persons) about £51 per week, or £204 per month, that’s quite a drinks bill for just water. My water rates (and it is an expensive rate) are £24 per month, and I can drink all the water I like (not that I drink very much, unless there is whiskey in it). This calculation is based on the price of Highland Spring still water 500ml 24pk - £10.99 – an average price, though it may be a little cheaper in larger bottles, I would rather drink my tap water and save my £200 pounds for champagne!

Fortunately there are cheaper alternatives to Highland Spring, all the big supermarket chains, Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys all have an ‘own brand’ bottled water, which to me seems of equal quality

3) “Rehydrate your body, sunken eyes or dark circles are a sign of being drained of fluid and severely dehydrated”.
-Also a sign of drinking too much whiskey. You can re-hydrate your body perfectly adequately with tap water, there is no medical evidence that Highland spring or any other mineral water will hydrate your body any better than tap water to my knowledge.

4) “Waste products that are normally washed out of the body are left in a higher concentration in the throat and mouth. The bacteria that build up can lead to bad breath”.

5) “Constipation is a common problem. One of the main causes is lack of fluid in the intestine which slows the free flow of the bowel”. Eating less haggis and deep fried Mars bars would help alleviate this problem North of the Border however drinking any water in copious amounts would help alleviate this.

6) “Blood carries oxygen to the muscles. If water levels are low, you could develop muscle cramps because the process of oxygenating the muscles is inefficient.”

Help to avoid the following conditions by drinking adequate amounts of water daily.

7) “Recharge your mind, a healthy mind is as important as a healthy body. Low concentration levels could be due to a dehydrated liver unable to eliminate toxins, causing sluggishness”.

9) “Headaches are also often a sign of dehydration. The brain is made up of around 85% water, so before reaching for a headache pill, try a glass of water”.

Detoxing

10) “Detoxing is valuable for the body as it cleanses and rids the body of toxins which are present in the air we breathe, the foods we eat and in many drinks”.

11) “Toxic overload can lead to headaches, skin erruptions, constipation and that sluggish feeling in the morning. The body stores these excess toxins as cellulite or oily patches”.

All detox programmes share one crucial element: water. Using water to detox, eating a healthy diet and exercising sensibly boosts the immune system and gives you lots more energy.

All these claims are valid and medically corroborated, but I object to the snake oil salesmen at Highland Spring water H.Q implying that these effects and benefits are specifically connected to drinking Highland spring water in particular. It sounds like more ‘Ham-a-Hadie’ to me.

MINERAL CONTENT

Highland Spring’s unique mineral content is displayed on every bottle:

mg/L at source
Calcium 32.0
Magnesium 8.0
Potassium 0.5
Sodium 4.5
Bicarbonate 133.0
Chloride 5.0
Sulphate 7.0
Nitrate < 2.0
Total dissolved solids at 180°C 136
pH 7.8
Fluoride < 0.1
Iron < 0.01
Aluminium < 0.01

THE UK MARKET

The UK Market for Bottled Water is now worth £1.5 billion or 2.17 billion litres and accounts for 15% of soft drink sales. This is forecast to grow to 21% share by 2008. (Zenith 2006).

Since 2000 there have been 10 million new bottled water drinkers in the UK. More than half the population, that’s 26 million adults, now drink over two billion litres every year, with growth expected at a rate of 6-7% year on year until 2010. 42% of UK consumers believe Scotland is the region, which produces the clearest, purest natural mineral water (NOP, January 2005).

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

Like any other industrial activity, bottled water is not completely innocuous to the environment. There is an image that goes with spring water of its being environmentally friendly and in harmony with nature This is another myth pedalled by the advertising men that is not only irresponsible but also dangerous and is masking a considerable negative impact on the environment by the bottled water industry.

1) Manufacturing, recycling or incinerating bottles of water needs energy and creates pollution.

2) Trading and transporting bottled water all over the world has obviously a negative impact on the environment, mainly through fuel combustion and the release of polluting particles into the atmosphere.

3) Each year, 89 billion litres of bottled water are sold and a mountain of plastic bottles is buried in landfill sites.

CONCLUSION
I like Highland spring water, though it does not make me want to do the Highland fling after drinking it, I do appreciate the clean fresh flavour. There is a discernable difference between tap water and spring water if you live in a particularly hard or soft water area where the taste can be tainted, and the addition of chemicals at times can be quite alarming. I used to live somewhere where in Yorkshire where I had to take the drinking water I needed before 4 O’clock because I knew that the addition of chlorine at this time would render it undrinkable. I had to buy some bottled water through necessity, but now I don't.

If I could drink MINERAL ( not necessarily Highland Spring) water all the time I would but it is too expensive so I can’t, and that is the top and bottom of it !

GLOSSARY (for Sassenachs)

Ham-a-Hadie, an unlikely story
Blootered, Drunk
Shang-a-Lang, no idea, suggestions welcome please.

 

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