Consumer Alert - Contaminated "Holy Water"

British Muslims are being warned against buying bottled "Zam Zam" water which purports to be from a sacred well in Mecca. Apparently, some morally bankrupt entrepreuners have hit on the idea of bottling water from deity-only-knows-where and flogging it to the public as Zam Zam water. Unfortunately, the water has been tested and found to contain three times the WHO-determined safe level of nitrates and twice the safe level of arsenic.

Both chemicals have been implicated in causing cancer, and are unsafe for the persons most likely to be consuming the water - infants, young children, the sick, and the elderly. The Guardian states, in part:

Diluted arsenic has been associated with disorders of the nervous system, loss of sensation in the limbs and hearing impairment.

Apparently, Saudi Arabia does not permit Zam Zam water to be exported, so the water is definitely not the real thing. Zam Zam water was tested in 1971 and found to be safe for human consumption.

In short, do not drink Zam Zam water unless you either brought it back yourself or know the person who brought it really well, and are convinced that they would never try to poison you.

The kind of people who would profiteer off the gullibility of the ignorant - blithely and without conscience causing them physical and mental harm - deserve to die of thirst.

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