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Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D.
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Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D.
Katherine Zeratsky and Jennifer Nelson
Jennifer K. Nelson, M.S., R.D., L.D., C.N.S.D.
Jennifer Nelson is your link to a better diet. As specialty editor of the Food & Nutrition Center, she plays a vital role in bringing you healthy recipes and meal planning."Nutrition is one way people have direct control over the quality of their lives," she says. "I hope to translate the science of nutrition into ways that people can select and prepare great-tasting foods that help maintain health and treat disease."
A St. Paul, Minn., native, she is certified by the National Board of Nutrition Support Certification, has been with Mayo Clinic since 1978, and is director of clinical dietetics and an associate professor of nutrition at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine.
She leads clinical nutrition efforts for a staff of more than 50 clinical dietitians and nine dietetic technicians and oversees staffing, strategic and financial planning, and quality improvement. Nelson was co-editor of the James Beard Foundation Award-winning "The New Mayo Clinic Cookbook." She has been a contributing author to and reviewer of many Mayo Clinic books, including "Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight for EveryBody," "The Mayo Clinic Family Health Book" and "The Mayo Clinic/Williams Sonoma Cookbook." She contributes to the strategic direction of the Food & Nutrition Center, which includes creating recipes and menus, reviewing nutrition content of various articles, and answering nutrition questions posed to Ask a Specialist.
Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D.
As a specialty editor for the Food & Nutrition Center, Katherine Zeratsky helps you sort through the facts and figures, the fads and the hype to learn more about nutrition and diet.A Marinette, Wis., native, she is certified in dietetics by the state of Minnesota and the American Dietetic Association. She has been with Mayo Clinic since 1999.
She is active in nutrition-related curriculum and course development in pediatrics at Mayo Clinic Rochester and nutrition education related to the physiology and recommended intakes for premature infants.
Other areas of interest include breast milk and formula safety, neonatal feeding, and nutrition for breast-feeding mothers.
She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, served a dietetic internship at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, and worked as a registered dietitian and health risk counselor at ThedaCare of Appleton, Wis., before joining the Mayo Clinic staff.
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Nutrition-wise blog
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Sept. 12, 2009
Blog: Bottled water or tap water?
By Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D.
I ask my family "bottled or tap" every time we head to the lake for some R&R. And I don't mean beer — I mean water.
The water from our cabin's tap comes from a deep aquifer. We have the water tested regularly and it's always free of contaminants. On the other hand, it's a standing joke that the cabin's shower turns blondes into redheads.
The bottled versus tap water controversy about safety — as well as taste and economics — sent me into info-gathering mode. Here's what I found out.
Safety
Turns out that bottled water and tap water are regulated and monitored by different agencies: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversees bottled water, while the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates tap water. They use similar standards for ensuring safety. The EPA mandates that water utilities provide annual quality reports to customers. These "customer confidence reports" provide information such as source (river, lake, aquifer), contaminant levels and potential health effects. (Check the "Resources" tab for a link to the EPA website where you can find out more about your local tap water.) The FDA, however, doesn't require bottled water companies to disclose that information.
Taste
This is personal. The choice between tap and bottled water, once you get beyond the issue of safety, seems to hinge on taste. For me, it depends on where I am. When I'm at the lake, I definitely down the bottled stuff.
Economics
Bottled water is definitely more expensive than tap. The bottled water business — a multi-million dollar industry — is resource intensive. In many cases, bottled water is shipped hundreds if not thousands of miles. And some folks don't properly recycle the plastic or glass bottles.
So can we assume that bottled and tap water are roughly comparable in terms of safety? I vote yes. Are you willing to pay for bottled water? Do you wonder if the bottled water business is a wise use of our natural resources? Finally, what's your preference as far as taste?
So, what'll you have? Bottled or tap?
- Jennifer
17 comments posted
January 1, 2010 3:54 p.m.
Empty bottles are littering my neighbourhood, but the tap water will kill you to be fair!
- Bobby
December 15, 2009 2:10 p.m.
Don't forget that tap water has lead, chlorine, and other toxic chemicals and gasses that fill up the bathroom when you shut the door and don't turn on the fan. Let's not talk about that. And the FDA? Looking out for us? What a joke. It's all about creating disease and making us fat and sick. It makes the dollar grow. Get smart people. But with plastic, bottled water, you want plastic that doesn't contain the chemical BPA.
- Heather
September 22, 2009 9:19 a.m.
I don't think it is an either or option. I like a 3rd alternative - filtered tap water. Much more environmentally and economically friendly than bottled water, but addresses also addresses the taste, safely benefits of bottled water. I use a Brita pitcher and filter that you refill from your tap that works great.
- Tim
September 17, 2009 11:49 p.m.
I absolutaly agree with Linda. Not everybody is a good citizen and takes those containers recycling.
- Maria
September 16, 2009 10:23 p.m.
I really believe that it depends on where you are at in terms of both taste and safety. I would suggest always bring bottled water just in case.
- Wade
September 16, 2009 5:01 p.m.
I have lived at "the lake" with well water for 25 years and the water is great, no bottled water for me.
- Don
September 16, 2009 4:00 p.m.
Why are the contaminant standards different between the FDA and the EPA? How different? When there isn't transparency by the water bottlers, it makes me worry.
- Paul
September 16, 2009 3:58 p.m.
Another alternative for bottled water if you have iron, etc.: A Reverse Osmosis water system. Fill your water container for drinking at the lake, camping and such. You get hyper-filtered water that you can't tell from purchased water, saving money without transportation and tossed plastic bottles.
- Bob
September 16, 2009 3:22 p.m.
I agree with Bonnie #1 and the others who voted for tap water. I live in NJ and I think our water is delicious, especially cold. There were a couple places in the US that I felt the water had a rather heavy "metal" taste, iron maybe? I don't know much about well water. The environmental impact of bottles is huge and we all know a lot of people are thoughtless when it comes to Mother Earth. Sistabuttafly, I'm with you-Hug your faucet tonight!
- Bonnie #2
September 16, 2009 7:40 a.m.
You have another option that's inexpensive and better for the environment. Fill reusable containers with tap water at home and take them with you to the lake.
- sistabuttafly
September 16, 2009 12:45 a.m.
I've pledged not to use bottled water due to its environmental impact & false advertising. Should check poisonous water from coal mining slag in W. Virginia. Hundreds of violations: lead, mercury in their water w/ rashes, tooth erosion, prob. brain damage. Finally water is trucked in, but showers inflame, etc. skin. How can we stop these violations? Bush adm. was pro business, not pro-people, relaxed EPA standards. Shall I mail you the lengthy NYTimes article from last week?
- Ellen
September 15, 2009 6:16 p.m.
Personally I have used distilled water for over twenty years. People who are not accustomed to distilled find it tastless however with in a short period it is fine. If you look at an ice cube of distilled you will see how clear and very hard it is. Often when a cube freezes it creates an ice stick about 3/4 to 1 inch long which tells me it is quite pure. I have had my own distiller for the whole time. When we travel we find the price is reasonable to buy it at your Supermarket.
- Larry
September 15, 2009 4:30 p.m.
I have compromised immune system MS-- only ever use bottled DISTILLED water, No problems--am surprised it is not used by others.
- Martin G
September 15, 2009 10:10 a.m.
I disagree. There is definately a taste difference in my water with a filter/softener compared to the bottled water.
- No name given
September 13, 2009 9:47 p.m.
I agree with the previous commenters - tap water is the obvious choice! In an industrialized nation like the US it's just as safe to drink as bottled (especially the bottled brands that use municipal water as their "springs") and the environmental cost of the plastic bottles is simple not worth it. Besides, what chemicals are leaching from the plastic into your water? If you object to the taste of the tap water at your cabin, invest in a water filter.
- Bonnie
September 13, 2009 7:04 p.m.
I don't see how you can even ask this question. Study after study shows that tap water is just as safe as bottled water. The enormous cost to the environment of bottled water is immoral.
- Chris
September 12, 2009 4:49 p.m.
Not to mention the litter caused by the used bottles and the use of natural resources for a disposable container that ends up as litter in our parks or taking up valuable space in our landfills.
- Linda
17 comments posted