The winner 21 save water

UK food and drink manufacturers are working together in a new initiative, known as the Federation House Commitment, to reduce water usage and improve efficiency across their businesses.

 The 21 manufacturers have pledged to
review their onsite water usage and take action to reduce it wherever
possible. The initiative is a collaboration between the Food &
Drink Federation (FDF) and Envirowise, which provides free advice to
UK businesses on increasing profitability and reducing environmental
impact. The initiative has a combined financial saving of around
£60m per year on water bills.

But consumer and environmental groups
were expected to question how effective a voluntary agreement would
be, amid concerns about whether consumers might be compromised by
possible cutbacks on the use of water in health and safety areas.

Chocolate giant Cadbury was prosecuted
and fined £1m last year after unclean pipes were found to be at
the heart of a national salmonella outbreak which gave 42 people food
poisoning and put three of them in hospital.

Companies promise the initiative means
absolutely no compromise on health and safety.