Produce company Chiquita Brands International (NYSE: CQB) has described claims in a recent consumer protection lawsuit over alleged water contamination as inaccurate, while certifier Rainforest Alliance has also come to the multinational's defense.

Last week, Seattle-based Water and Sanitation Health (WASH) announced it was suing Chiquita for "deceptive" advertising, with the NGO's founder Eric John Harrison alleging banana operations were destroying natural ecosystems and polluting the drinking water of communities near the multinational's biggest Guatemalan supplier.

In a statement given to www.freshfruitportal.com, Chiquita spokesperson Ed Loyd highlighted the business followed a strict code of conduct to promote strong business ethics, respect and fairness.

"We always stand willing to work with any stakeholder in a constructive approach to improvethe lives and the sustainability of local communities," Loyd said.

"We continue to be proud of our collaborations with numerous socially-conscious organizations around the world, including the Rainforest Alliance, to ensure our environmental footprint is as small, our safety practices as advanced, and our social and labor standards as fair-minded as possible.

"The news release is of particular concern because we have already reached out to Mr. Harrison to mediate the situation and have underscored multiple times that his understanding is wrong."

Loyd said those invitations had gone unanswered.

"We have reached out to Mr. Harrison to mediate the situation and to underscore the inaccuracy of his understanding," he said.

"At this point we are contemplating filing a claim against WASH and Eric Harrison for defamation and other torts associated with his incorrect statements."

In the initial release, Harrison said Rainforest Alliance was re-thinking its endorsement of Chiquita in light of the claims, but the NGO said an investigative audit was conducted in response to WASH's claims and farms were found to be in compliance with Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) certification standards.

"Concerns expressed by organizations like WASH are helpful to certification programs, as they allow us to review the strength of our standards, investigations and auditing procedures," SAN director Andre de Freitas said in a release.

"We want to always have a high level of assurance that certified farms comply with our standards, show the continuous improvement the standards require and are minimizing environmental impacts and improving quality of life for workers and communities."

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