Saturday 12 December 2009

Masafi is Water


If you lived in the UAE for any period of time, you're probably aware that the word "Masafi" is synonymous with "water". So it's with great shame that I read this article:



ABU DHABI // A massive batch of Masafi water was deemed unfit for human consumption according to the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority, which issued an order late last month demanding that the bottles be recalled from the shelves of retail stores through the Emirates. The ADFC confirmed yesterday that a half-million water bottles produced on October 12, 2009 with an expiration date of October 11, 2010 were contaminated, containing “impurities visible to the naked eye,” according to its press release. Sources at Masafi confirmed that 500,000 bottles had been ordered for recall. The company would not specify what the contamination was.


http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091211/NATIONAL/912109976/1010

Regardless, I drank Masafi last night, and will drink some more today. I support them 100%.

Here's a brief introduction about the village of Masafi (stands for "Pure Water" in Arabic):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masafi


Sa77a!

29 comments:

Em said...

that's a shame - and a big blow to the brand.

hopefully there'll be good damage control.

Anonymous said...

Wow! I drink nothing but Masafi! I always thought it was decent as with my medical condition even water can agitate my colon. Masafi tends not to... or maybe its cause the bird droppings have a natural coating effect!

lol, nice to share BuJassem, I'll switch to pure life for a few weeks.

Al-ain Rose said...
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Al-ain Rose said...
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Anonymous said...

No, Gulfa and Al Dhaid waters taste like crap.

Al ain seems... "Hard" to me. It hurts my stomach.

Infact, only Arwa, Masafi, and Pure Life dont annoy my stomack. So Today the Baqala brought me 5 bottles of Arwa instead of Masafi. The guy was shocked. "Inta may reed masafi? Ereed Arwa?"

lol.

BuJ said...

MJ.. it hasn't touched me at all.. i'll still drink masafi! i am sure others will continue to drink it. i'm a loyal drinker hahaha (that sounded bad!)

ABIT.. you have a medical condition?

Rose, personally i prefer Al Ain water, and Al Ain orange juice and Al Ain milk .. but u cannot always find Al Ain products, that's why i drink masafi.. but really i like them both... however with a small preference to Al Ain.. why? coz i think Al Ain water has this extra very very slight sting in taste that i love!

i drink about 2 litres of water a day, but the consequences are painful hahahah

ABIT.. not aware of Al Dhaid as water.. it's barely known outside that village! but Gulfa is ok.. however my favorites are :

1- al ain
2- masafi
3- gulfa

speaking on the subject, when i was in london i just drank volvic (when i could).. coz it reminded me of al ain water !!! (not kidding!)

Anonymous said...

I do. I write about it often enough.

http://shadowsweed.blogspot.com/2008/03/and-i-bled.html

http://shadowsweed.blogspot.com/2007/02/illness-brought-on-by-self-infliction.html

http://shadowsweed.blogspot.com/2008/05/humira.html

Allah Kareem. No?

Anonymous said...

Yes Allah kareen abit :)

I know how hard it is to be chronically sick.. same here, recently diagnosed with a 'food' limiting condition.. I ran out of me meds and I suffered great deal last night :(

As for water BuJ.. I wouldn't suggest you keep drinking Masafi until things are clear on what is contaminating it.. what if it's one of those ugly parasites that can chronically reside inside of you ? Wa3

I think I'll get myself one of those expensive walter filters that purifies it from bugs before I come back to Dubai :) Will get it as a gift for Mom..

rosh said...

Stuff happens. The Masafi folks shall take care of it, I'm sure. Isn't Masafi spring water. Personally, I drink spring water, never ever distilled / purified water, especially since the government article on purified water had chemicals / pharmaceutical / medical residues etc etc.

Do you guys remember Jeema? The Ad, 'Jeema drinking water' on Ch33 -- pretty catchy back in the day :)

Anonymous said...

3anabu! The ever lasting spring?

I find it hard to believe that Masafi water comes from a spring that hasnt gone dry in 20 years... a spring in a country that hardly gets any rain.

Al-ain Rose said...
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Al-ain Rose said...
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Anonymous said...

Ooooh! No moderation! *muahahahaha!*

Come on AAR, do you reallu believe that it comes from a natural source? How large is this spring? Where is the spring?

I've been to masafi... All they have is a few mountains, a souq that is over priced, and Indian guys trying to sell me "grilled corn" on the side of the road.

I have a hard time in believing that some spring in Masafi has been pumping out water for 20 odd years. Its a marketing gimmick!

Al-ain Rose said...
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BuJ said...

salamat ABIT.. i read all the posts u linked, but i didn't understand the illness.. anyway alf salama.

salamat too IYM.. i guess it's all showing our mortality.. my bro cannot take gluten, and dad cannot digest milk.. and all sorts of weird stuff for me if i take carbs.. so i gottta stick to protein and i'm happy!

btw, the issue with masafi is cleaned up, they found stuff in the water that can be seen with the eye and they recalled 500,000 bottles. i think that's enough, no? also, we don't drink masafi or any bottled stuff at home. we have a filter (it's expensive and very good) and all the water in the taps is 100% safe to drink, even in the shower. i love it.

we had this system in our house since 1986.

lol Rosh and Jeema.. actually i was given Jeema today at work. was thinking of you!

Rose. good boy b3eynek. u dunno why i put moderation. anyway it's not against you or ABIT.

imagine if you two drink alcohol. that would be a disaster waiting to happen!

Al-ain Rose said...
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Al-ain Rose said...
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BuJ said...

honestly Rose what's gone into you?
you drank a bad masafi? or worse al ain?
seriously, ru trying to annoy me on purpose? what did i say?

btw, funny how we have 19 comments for masafi and NONE on climate change and copenhagen.

explains the problems with our culture very quickly..

Al-ain Rose said...

ok, sorry, i was just trying to be humorous, I guess I failed. comments has been deleted.

Al-ain Rose said...

Have*

Anonymous said...

BuJ.. it's not cultural not talking about Copenhagen.. I think the problem is bigger than being discussed on blogs..

If my knowledge base is diminutive in that field; then I cannot run a smart conversation around it..

I just like the idea of " global warming" being a fabricated theory ! As seen on CNN !

BuJ said...

IYM, yareit u put that comment on the Cop15 post :)

btw, i agree with you.. if we are not specialists on a subject, then we are less likely to talk about it.

Mind you, Arabs and Indians (eastern people in general, except to Japan) do not stick to this rule. We can argue anything!!! Try asking an Indian tourist in Dubai where Dubai Mall is.. he'll rarely admit that he's a tourist and doesn't know, instead he'll probably send u on a goose chase!

Again, same with Arabs.

Going back to the topic, i am sure we can agree that using less water and electricity is a good thing.

rosh said...

umm..what happened here?

ABIT, I've always believed the water is not the purified kind, but from the springs? I could be wrong. Though I'd reckon the facts about its weather, various citruses and natural springs is true. I've been to the village, it's beautiful, very calming.

BuJ, are you saying the Masafi issue is probably related to climate change? If so, this is concerning.

Dubai Jazz said...

I never ceased drinking Masafi.

Seems to have the perfect PH level for my stomach!

Anonymous said...

Sorry BuJ.. I can't help contribute to modifying climate change by using/consuming less water ! How on Earth I can shower less or drink less ?

As with the electricity part of it; how do u want me to use less AC in the boiling UAE when I've been living in freezing Canada for almost 7 years in a raw now ?

I think I should move to Lebanon..

Anonymous said...

Or better to Mekka where Zamzam continues to flow and it doesn't need to be desalinated or purified :)

BuJ said...

Mr Rosh!! hello Sir!
I think you misunderstood me.. Masafi is a story and Copenhagen (climate change) is a completely separate story!

I mentioned Copenhagen here because we already had a comment stream going on, that's all :)

IYM.. well u need to adjust to the UAE fast if you plan to come back here.. hehe.. just to let u know.. it's almost 11pm here, and the temp outside is 20C, and i've switched off the a/c and plan to sleep with the windows open :)

Zamzam is just amazing.. i wonder why the jews don't take credit for it.. after all it ruptured under the feet of Hagar, which was Abraham's 2nd wife. Salla Allah 3leih wa sallam.

Anonymous said...

Was Hagar an Israelite BuJ ? I don't think so..

Don't forget that Sarah was the one; Jacob and his descendants belong to Sarah and not to Hager..

I think my inner thermostat can never adjust to UAE's heat.. and it's OK.. I guess :)