Food Protection Trends - September/October 2020 - 314

PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLE
Food Protection Trends, Vol 40, No. 5, p. 314-319
Copyright© 2020, International Association for Food Protection
2900 100th Street, Suite 309, Des Moines, IA 50322-3855

Ricardo Jiovanni Soria-Herrera,1,2 Karla Gabriela Dominguez-Gonzalez,1
Rebeca Rumbo-Pino,1 Arizbeth Piña-Lazaro,1 Sandra Rivera-Gutierrez,2
Laura Patricia Salas-Rangel,2 Rafael Ortiz-Alvarado,1
Jorge Alberto Gonzalez-y-Merchand,2 Berenice Yahuaca-Juarez1
and Jorge Francisco Cerna-Cortes2*
Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Facultad de Químico Farmacobiología, Tzintzuntzan 173,
Col. Matamoros, Morelia Michoacan, Mexico
Departamento de Microbiologia, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biologicas-Instituto Politecnico Nacional,
Prolongacion Carpio y Plan de Ayala S/N, Col. Casco de Santo Tomas, Ciudad de Mexico, CP 11340, Mexico

Microbiological Quality of Bottled Water Obtained from
Mexican Small Water Purification Plants: A Pilot Study,
Carried Out in Morelia (Central Mexico)
ABSTRACT
The aim of this work was to begin to determine the
microbiological quality of bottled water samples obtained
from small purification plants located in Morelia,
Michoacan, Mexico. Various microorganisms were taken
into account, including nontuberculous mycobacteria
(NTM) species. All 20 samples analyzed were positive for
aerobic mesophilic bacteria. Eleven (55%), 6 (30%), and
2 (10%) water samples were positive for total coliforms,
fecal coliforms, and Escherichia coli, respectively. In total,
18 (90%) of the water samples exceeded the maximum
allowed limit stipulated by Mexico's official guidelines,
establishing that purified water must not exceed the limit
of 2 log CFU/mL (100 CFU/mL) of aerobic mesophilic
bacteria and the presence of total coliforms must not
be detectable in any 100 mL (<1.1 most probable
number/100 mL) of sample. Five (25%) of the purified
water samples were positive for NTM. The findings clearly
showed that most of the purified bottled water samples
had unsatisfactory microbiological quality and some
harbored NTM associated with human illness. Therefore,

the study as a pilot points to a need for Mexican health
authorities to perform frequent monitoring of purified
water producers to verify compliance with standards
regarding microbial safety.

INTRODUCTION
Bottled water consumption has been growing steadily
worldwide for the past few decades (1). North America
contains two of the three largest individual bottled water
markets, the United States and Mexico; together, they
represented 22.2% of the world's packaged water market
in 2018 (32). Mexico alone accounted for 9% of the global
volume, with nearly 9.5 billion gal in 2018. Mexico leads
the world in bottled water per capita consumption. Average
intake in Mexico went from 64.5 gal in 2013 to 72.4 gal 5
years later (32). Because of the increase in demand, the water
bottling industry has been booming throughout Mexico,
with a large increase in the number of water purification
plants (17). These plants are typically small businesses
operating locally that disinfect, bottle, and distribute water,
mostly in 20-L jugs. The 20-L jug size is the most frequently

*Author for correspondence: Phone: 55.57296000, Ext. 62495; Email: jcerna@hotmail.com

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