Is Perrier soda or sparkling water? After 5 years of proceedings surrounding a 24 cent dispute, an American court has ruled

We had to wait 5 years and a trial to get the answer to this question: is Perrier a soda or sparkling water? If the question is now resolved, deciding was not an easy task for the justice system of the State of Pennsylvania.

It all started in 2019 when Jennifer Montgomery bought a bottle of Perrier in her neighborhood store in Pennsylvania. When she goes to checkout, the young woman is surprised to have to pay sales tax of 24 cents. Some time later, she requested a refund from the Pennsylvania Department of Finance, and sued Sheetz, the grocery chain. Her argument: she was unfairly taxed on a bottle of natural water which is normally exempt from any tax, under the law in force in this state.

5 years after the start of the case, the verdict has just come: Perrier is indeed a sparkling water and is therefore subject to sales tax in Pennsylvania. If, since 1863, the brand claims to offer “natural sparkling table water”, in the eyes of the courts, this is not the case. Perrier water is “is made by combining a specific amount of filtered or purified carbon dioxide with plain water in an industrial plant”, state representatives explain, it is therefore not 100% natural and is subject to the tax. Perrier also acknowledges using, since 2018, an external gas source, in order to streamline the gasification process and save water, but emphasizes that, for decades, carbon dioxide and water were collected in the same place. , then separated.