Caroline Westby, you've heard her on the radio, seen her on this newscast a number of times, and more recently, she was featured in one of those I am Belize profiles.
So we shouldn't have to say that her credentials are impeccable. So when she complains that a bottle of Crystal Water was far from crystal clear, the claim carries weight.
Westby told us how she found that her five gallon bottle of Crystal water was riddled with what appears to be insect larva and eggs:
Caroline Westby
"While Errol was looking at the bottle. We wanted a bottle of water, we were out of water and when he glance at the bottle he notice this and I didn't know what it was and so I start inspecting. The little bit of water that was left we threw it out and that's when we saw this gruesome scene."
Jules Vasquez
"I wanted to vomit right away. I just felt sick to my stomach because I said 'imagine this is what my family and I drank' and I don't think it's acceptable."
Jules Vasquez
"Now this is a bottle; for the avoidance of doubt - that was plastic sealed on it and so it had the Crystal logo on the plastic sheet that covered the blue part."
Caroline Westby
"Yeah."
Jules Vasquez
"And then you open the blue part."
Caroline Westby
"I open the blue part and I put it on my dispenser."
Jules Vasquez
"So then it is beyond any doubt it came from the factory like that. It wasn't that some interloper fills it up?"
Caroline Westby
"I don't think so because it had the seal and I know I see the truck stop at the shop there, that's where I bought my water."
Jules Vasquez
"Now, this is a product you trust. This is a product I trust."
Caroline Westby
"The very day I found it out we still went back to the store and bought Crystal water. I remember your show and you said that this was one of the cleanest water so I had no need to inspect my water bottle. Yesterday I came down with a lot of vomiting and now these have legs so I don't know how many of this we drank."
Jules Vasquez
"Do you fear that you will be ill?"
Caroline Westby
"Well I was vomiting yesterday, my stomach was upset. It could be the mind but after drinking this - i don't know."
Jules Vasquez
"You've spoken with a representative from Bowen and Bowen [Caroline Westby - Yes I have] how are you able to speak about that conversation? Are they......? What is that company's position?"
Caroline Westby
"The only thing the representative did was to call and said that he got my name and number from a mutual friend of his and he wanted to send for the bottle. I told him that I would be at a workshop this morning; he wanted to send for this bottle and I said if I give you the bottle there goes my evidence. What am I going to tell Jules when he comes here this afternoon? I don't have anything to prove that.....and it's not to bring down the company. People have to know now that they will have to look now and inspect as to what they are drinking."
According to Hilly Martinez of the Bowen and Bowen Group when they wash their bottles it goes through a heated system and is washed with caustic soda, then rinsed with fresh water so anything that's in the bottle would have died. He said that once the bottle is opened, a number of variables are introduced, and he says even the dispenser could have had contaminants.
Late this evening, Ms. Westby told us that a Bowen and Bowen representative visited her house this evening and again asked for the bottle. She said she was also offered tickets to get free soft drinks and beers�..
Channel 7
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