This study proposed a new strategy assessing the health risks of mineral water packaging and compared the chemical analytical techniques and somein vitrocytotoxicological assays for the study of PVC and PET materials at the main stages of the manufacturing process of bottles. These evaluations were carried out with food simulant (deionized‐endotoxin‐tested water) and with natural mineral water in real conditions of packaging and storage (from 0 to 24 months). The complementarity of these two approaches is discussed. Some analytical and cytotoxic abnormalities were detected in the food simulant after contact with the batches of powdered PVC compound, PET resin and their intermediate steps of transformation (PVC‐'paraison’, PET‐'preform'). But thèse results did not reflect the actual behaviour of the finished PVC and PET bottles, for which no major abnormality was detected in the natural mineral water.