Worst tier · Bottled water
Peñafiel Mineral Water (historic)
Withdrawn from US market after CR-linked reporting on elevated arsenic — illustrative case of source-water volatility.
AvoidRemoved from US market — included as the textbook source-volatility cautionary tale.
Why it ranks
Peñafiel is a Mexican mineral water (Keurig Dr Pepper). After Consumer Reports flagged elevated arsenic in independent testing rounds, the brand was pulled from the US market and underwent reformulation / source rework. Even setting aside the specific batch numbers, the case is the canonical illustration of how a single bottled source can swing dramatically between batches if the underlying spring chemistry changes.
Highlights
- Cultural / culinary use case in Mexican cuisine
Caveats
- CR-linked reporting → US market withdrawal — recall-adjacent case study
- Source-water mineral profile is volatile across years; arsenic risk is real
- Use as a reminder: always check the most recent batch report
- Choose brands that publish quarterly water-quality reports
Testing method
Consumer Reports — ICP-MS arsenic