At last we have a reply from Aquatess Ltd:

Re your article "Acqua Azzurra - an Italian product?"

The art of beating a drum incessantly, though not necessarily musical, is always acknowledged and the worst part of it all is that the noise becomes tiresome to the most enthusiastic of listeners. In this vein I decided to answer your queries and bring to your attention the legal requirements of labelling as set out under Maltese legislation, which I believe you should be more aware of considering this is your self-styled specialisation.

I thus advise your good self to have a good look at legal notice 5 of 2002, which came into force on February 1, 2002, wherein one finds in the greatest possible number of clauses that the wording that the law now requires to be printed on labels, presentation and advertising of foodstuffs is trilingual - Maltese, English and Italian. This is in conformity with EU Regulations regarding the use of language within the EU under directive 2000/13/EC.

Unfortunately, I have to quote you a very well known Italian maxim, L'abito non fa il monaco, which you probably know and prefer as "you can't judge a book by its cover". We have been living in a multilingual situation for the past decades and its incessant increase necessitates the ever increasing diversity of labelling and promotional languages.

It was purely this spirit which promoted Aquatess to promote its product in this particular style. It is not some cheap theatrical gimmick as you seem to imply in your column and that your attitude is one intended to apply relative pressure to enable you to reach out to your consumers but the question of language is one where one should tread with caution.

Labelling language does not denote origin, God forbid, else half the products we all consume are outright lies and fakes. Labelling is intended to be informative and in a language the consumer may understand. The Malta Standards Authority has confirmed that the aspects of this label conform to regulatory requirements, as per correspondence enclosed.

In reply to your several questions about the contents, let me assure you and your readers that the product is analysed and ascertained as to its regulatory purity and adequacy for consumption by humans. It is Maltese in its origin as can be ascertained from the same label that it is bottled at Qormi in our factory and we are proud to produce such a high level quality product that we do proclaim the matter clearly to your readers, our customers.

The above is being referred to you in terms of the right of reply under the Press Act and we hope that this is to your satisfaction and same will be published as your readers, our customers, have a right to put their minds at rest. (Joe Sullivan, director Aquatess Ltd.)

I object to Mr Sullivan's insinuation that I "seem to imply" that their method of promoting Acqua Azzurra is "some cheap theatrical gimmick". I never implied this. However, it could very well be a Freudian slip on his part and, on reflection, one may indeed ask: "Is it some cheap theatrical gimmick?"

The same applies to Mr Sullivan's choice of the Italian maxim L'abito non fa il monaco and the English maxim "You can't judge a book by its cover". This is yet another Freudian slip on his part. Indeed these are tantamount to an admission that consumers can't judge his product by its label because it could very well be, if I may use Mr Sullivan's own words, "some cheap theatrical gimmick".

In any case I thank Mr Sullivan for his reply, even though I had to "beat a drum incessantly" for five months. Giving up goes against my grain. However, without beating about the bush, I must inform Mr Sullivan that he has got the wrong end of the stick.

He missed the salient point, namely that, whether or not the use of Italian is in conformity with the law, the article "Acqua Azzurra - an Italian product?" is about a case involving "misleading" information on packaging. The information on the label is targeted at Maltese consumers who consider an Italian product superior to a Maltese product.

I thank Mr Sullivan for bringing the legal requirements of labelling to my attention because he believes I should be more aware of them considering this is my self-styled specialisation. In the same spirit I must reciprocate and bring to Mr Sullivan's attention a very important factor that is not a legal requirement of labeling, indeed it is prohibited and a definite "no-no". That is misleading! Indeed irrespective of how many languages are allowed, misleading is most definitely not allowed.

Here we have a Maltese product bearing an Italian name, Acqua Azzurra. All the text in the label on the bottle is in Italian and the colours used are the traditional Italian green, white and red. Indeed, as can be seen (above) what we actually have here is the Italian flag.

One may even ask whether it is in conformity with EU Regulations for a Maltese company to display the Italian flag on a Maltese product.

In view of all this, consumers may perceive the product to be of Italian origin. Geoffrey Mifsud was misled into believing that Acqua Azzurra is an Italian product and bought it purely for that reason. In his letter of October 18, 2002, he wrote:

"Recently I purchased two six-packs of Acqua Azzurra mineral water bottles under the impression that this was an Italian product..."

In no uncertain terms, misleading consumers is wrong and illegal. Another fact worth bearing in mind is that many Maltese consumers do not understand Italian. At this stage we know for sure that Mr Mifsud was misled. Therefore readers who, like him, were misled into thinking that Acqua Azzurra is an Italian product are invited to write to me to establish and quantify the extent to which Acqua Azzurra's packaging and description is misleading.

Misleading has definitely occurred but, to add insult to injury, the information given is also confusing. For example, regarding the product, in his letter Mr Sullivan writes: "It is Maltese in its origin as can be ascertained from the same label that it is bottled at Qormi." However, as can be seen, there is nothing on the label that clearly states that it is Maltese in its origin. Indeed it says (in Italian) that it is bottled by Aquatess Ltd for Acqua Azzurra. It also states that the water is bottled in Mdina Road, Qormi. However it does not state on the label that its origin is Maltese.

Consequently the absence of a statement on the label explaining that its origin is Maltese, combined with the inclusion of the Italian flag, and the use of Italian, can mislead potential buyers into assuming that it originates from Italy. A proper description on a label attached to a product should not generate one single question. In this case we have a label and a 450-word letter and yet the following questions remain unanswered.

In his letter Mr Sullivan writes that Aquatess is promoting its product. What about Acqua Azzurra? Is it another company? Whose product is it? Is it an Aquatess product or an Acqua Azzurra product? Are Acqua Azzurra and Aquatess two separate companies or are they partners?

On reading the information given in Italian, it could be interpreted by a consumer that Acqua Azzurra is an Italian company which supplies the water to Aquatess Ltd, a Maltese company?

I have no doubt consumers would appreciate clear, unequivocal answers to these questions. Therefore, in line with the consumers' right to be informed, I ask Mr Sullivan to give us straightforward answers, particularly in view of his insistence that his customers have a right to put their minds at rest. Indeed this is one point on which we agree.

Thus I look forward to hearing from Mr Sullivan. In the absence of answers I will have no option but to resume the beating of the drum. At least, for what it's worth, at this point we know something that we did not know before, when all we had to go on was the label.

We now know that the water is of Maltese origin but I must again stress that, as can be seen, this is not stated in the label. The label only states that it is bottled in Qormi, for Acqua Azzurra and, just in case that is not enough, the scenario is of a lake surrounded by mountains. This is misleading!

I do not know how many people are supposed to be misled by a product description for the relevant competent authorities to deal with the respective offenders accordingly. So far we have Mr Mifsud who was misled. Therefore, if you think that Acqua Azzurra with its Italian name and label is misleading, please write to me and copy in Aquatess Ltd, Tal-Handaq Road, Qormi QRM 08, or vice versa.

We can then take the matter up with the competent authority.