Body-conscious lap up diet water at $30 a litre

Forget about cutting out carbs or replacing meals with a milkshake - the latest dieting phenomenon to hit the shelves overseas is a bottled water that claims to help people lose weight.

Contrex is being marketed as Britain's first "cosmetic water", on the basis that it works as a slimming aid.

Nestle, its maker, claims that the mineral water contains natural sources of calcium and magnesium, which can eliminate toxins, fight fatigue and help people stay in shape.

The claim the calcium can also increase the body's metabolism and improve weight loss.

But health experts have dismissed the idea of a "diet water" as ridiculous.

"Drinking water will not make you slim, even if it is fortified with calcium and magnesium. It just doesn't work that way," said Amanda Wynne of the British Dietetic Association.

Despite this criticism, industry insiders are predicting that "aquaceuticals" will be the boom dieting products of 2004.

The fad started in Japan and hit America last year, with several brands planned for launch in Britain this year.

Contrex is being sold in Waitrose supermarkets, but could be rolled out to other stores this year.

A spokeswoman for Nestle said: "It is selling like hot cakes. Contrex has been sold in France for years and women there call it the slimming water.

"One litre contains as much calcium as two glasses of milk and as much magnesium as a bar of plain chocolate, but without any of the calories, so you get the minerals you need without putting on weight."

Other aquaceuticals to go on sale recently include Blue Water, which costs an incredible £11 ($30) a litre and claims to improve skin conditions and general wellbeing.

It has been developed by an Austrian naturalist, Johann Grander, who says he "removed the negative memories from water and transferred beneficial energy patterns to it."

Some fans say they feel better simply by sleeping next to a glass of Blue Water at night.

Other products have celebrity endorsements, such as the Kabbalah Mountain Spring Water favoured by Madonna.

It claims to have been transformed into a "living" water through modern technology and the wisdom of ancient texts used by the Cabbala, a Jewish mysticism.

Lakeland Willow has also been launched as an aquaceutical in Britain and has a fan in TV chef Clarissa Dickson Wright.

According to its marketing blurb, it contains salicin, a natural pain-killing substance found in willow bark.

Other brands include a Japanese water called Chara which claims to reduce fat by suppressing the body's absorption of calories.

Britons spent £1 billion on bottled water last year, a 70-fold increase on 20 years ago. More than 250 brands of water are now available to choose from.

Manufacturers are also marketing "nutriceuticals" - foods which claim to have a health benefit.

Sales of products such as probiotic yogurts, fortified cereal bars and cholesterol-reducing margarines reached £239 million last year.

Britain has stringent controls on what health claims manufacturers can make for food and drink.

However, the rules can be circumvented by making allusions to the wonders of the products rather than definite assertions.

Buying your water in a little bottle with a label costs 1000 times more than simply turning on the kitchen tap.

The bottled water market is the fastest growing drinks industry in the world - and makers are spending millions marketing their products.

However, a study by the University of Geneva last year found that bottled water is often no healthier, or safer to drink, than ordinary tap water.


- INDEPENDENT