But Can We Say It Makes You Wet?

European Union regulators have decided that bottled water marketers can no longer claim that their product prevents dehydration. On the bright side, they're still allowed to claim that it quenches thirst, but stay tuned…

Apparently, the directive originated with a finding by some literal-minded German scientists (is there any other kind?) that confused symptoms and risk factors and managed to produce a completely nonsensical conclusion from some completely unimpeachable facts. Scientists! What would we do without them…

Anyway, European water sellers now have to peddle their product while avoiding mentioning one of its most obvious (at least to non-scientists and non-regulators) benefits. And to think they laughed in the U.S. when ketchup was deemed a vegetable!