Claim poisonous “DEW” bottled water linked to deaths in Tanzania now in Nigeria, false

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Lademi Aborisade

Claim: WhatsApp message claims that a bottled water brand called “DEW,” which has caused the deaths of 180 people in Tanzania, has now been shipped to Nigeria.

Verdict: False. There is no credible evidence to support this claim. We discovered that it is a recurring allegation, and NAFDAC debunked it in 2011.

Full Text 

Health-related misinformation spreads quickly, causing panic and fear. Claims about contaminated products can make people avoid safe items out of fear. With social media amplifying such messages, it becomes hard to know the truth.

Recently, a viral WhatsApp message warning people against consuming a bottled water brand called “DEW” has been widely shared on social media platforms such as Facebook. 

The message claims that the product was imported from Tanzania and has allegedly caused 180 deaths due to poisoning. It further states that Nigerian Customs has warned against drinking the water, urging people to share the information to “save lives.”

We knew the post had gone viral after seeing WhatsApp’s “forwarded many times” tag. 

“Urgent; please pass this to any loved ones—I just got this information now. Please don’t buy or drink any bottled water called ‘DEW.’ Customs said it was shipped into Nigeria from Tanzania, where it has killed 180 people. It is said to contain a poisonous chemical. Please pass this on and save millions. If you don’t believe it, check Google for DEW bottled water. Save lives, as I just saved yours. Forwarded as received,” the text reads. 

A screenshot of the viral message circulating. 

Because this claim can raise public concern, especially as Nigeria has faced past food and beverage contamination incidents, making people more susceptible to such warnings, DUBAWA decided to investigate. 

Verification

DUBAWA conducted a keyword search on the “Dew bottled water” and could not find anything online. 

We then saw that the claim had surfaced online in 2011 when the National Agency for Food Administration and Control (NAFDAC) debunked it. 

In the statement, the Agency explained that no poisonous dew water was circulating in the country. Investigations by NAFDAC in several hospitals across the nation showed no hospitalisation or death arising from the consumption of the said Dew water or any other brand of water.

Seeing the information was credited to Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), we scanned its website for any information related to Dew water. According to the NCS, bottled water is on the import prohibition list, which means it could not have been imported to Nigeria. This further explains why the claim is false. 

Furthermore, our web search did not reveal the existence of this Dew bottled water or any reported deaths in Tanzania or elsewhere attributed to such a brand.

Conclusion

This claim is a recurring one from 2011. According to the import prohibition list, bottled water can not be imported to Nigeria. We also saw that no death was recorded in Tanzania.