EU Bans Claim that Water Can Prevent Dehydration! Wait...What?

Believe nothing you hear, and only one half that you see.
~Edgar Allan Poe

Producers of bottled water are now forbidden by law from making the claim and will face a two-year jail sentence if they defy the edict, which comes into force in the UK next month.

EU bans claim that water can prevent dehydration!
Brussels bureaucrats were ridiculed yesterday after banning drink manufacturers from claiming that water can prevent dehydration!

Great headline! Further research reveals: In 2008, German scientists Dr Andreas Hahn and Dr Moritz Hagenmeyer submitted an application to the European Food Safety Authority  (EFSA) requesting the right to make the claim ”regular consumption of significant amounts of water can reduce the risk of development of dehydration and of concomitant decrease of performance” on labels of bottled water.

 I don't think that is exactly the same thing. I understand that decreased performance would be concomitant with dehydration, but drinking water prevents dehydration specifically, and dehydration is the cause of decreased performance. So, despite the fact that yes, it is silly to ban claims that water prevents dehydration, that does not give sellers of bottle water to make carte blanche statements about how well you will perform if you drink water.

Double learned today: Context matters, and don't take all things at face value just because you read a news headline. How does the song go? "People say believe half of what you see, some or none of what you hear."

Something else I learned: In pure scientific terms there is a significant distinction between dehydration and being in a state of dehydration.