A Guide to Commercially-Bottled Water and Other Beverages

If you drink commercially-bottled water, read the label and look for this information.

Commercially-bottled water labels reading "well water," "artesian well water," "spring water," or "mineral water" do not guarantee that the water does not contain Crypto. However, commercially-bottled water that comes from protected wells or protected springs is less likely to contain Crypto than water from less protected sources, such as rivers and lakes. Any bottled water (no matter what the source) that has been treated by one or more of the methods listed in the left column in the table above should be safe.

Other Beverages

Soft drinks and other beverages may or may not contain Cryptosporidium (Crypto) parasites. You need to know how they were prepared to know if they might contain Crypto.

If you drink prepared drinks, look for drinks prepared in a manner that removes Crypto:

Juices made from fresh fruit can also be contaminated with crypto. For example, an outbreak of cryptosporidiosis occurred in Ohio whereby several people became ill after drinking apple cider made from apples contaminated with Crypto. You may wish to avoid unpasteurized juices or fresh juices if you do not know how they were prepared.