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Food pack hazards

Sales-boosting tactics of some food manufacturers and importers could lead to tragic consequences, as one of our front page news reports disclosed yesterday. A tiny, colourful rubber ball which comes along with some snack packs, has caused the death of an infant who had apparently choked on it, mistaking it for an item of food. Rightly, the health authorities have banned the sale of such food packs.

With more and more food manufacturers and importers making their presence felt in the local market, competition among these interests seems to be rising steeply. The inclusion of curious toys in snack packs seems to be geared to attracting more and more child customers. However, very little or no care seems to be taken to alert these prospective customers to the contents of these food packets. The result could even be fatalities among the unsuspecting, very young - as our news report revealed.

The tragedy should be looked upon as an eye-opener by all concerned - the State, the manufacturers and elders and parents. Besides measuring up to stringent health requirements, manufactured food items should also be required to conform to specific safety standards. The infant's tragic death proves that not all these requirements are being met by sections of the food manufacturing industry. Even more disturbing is the inference that until now the relevant State agencies have not been monitoring the food sector as stringently as it ought to.

Quite a number of imported toys carry instructions as to children of which age groups could safely handle and play with them. They also call the attention of customers to possible harmful health effects of the toys in question. Such precautions need to be taken in respect of particularly, "fast" food items. We consider these, tasks for the country's Standards Institutions. There is no escaping the mandatory requirement that these food packs carry "warning signs" of the kind clearly printed on, for instance, cigarette packets.

In this age of junk and fast foods, parents and elders also need to keep an eagle eye on the food indulged in by their wards. The suitability and health hazards of fast foods apart, an awareness needs to be maintained on the deceptive sales gimmicks some food dealers seem to be resorting to. We need to be particularly mindful of the fact that in this era of competitive selling, almost any means would be resorted to by the less scrupulous among businessmen to boost sales.

These dangers are compounded by the increasing exposure of the young to the media and the accompanying advertising hype. While more and more desires are thus created in the consciousness of the viewer, not all these desires square with the acceptable definition of an essential human need.

We are glad that the average consumer wouldn't be abandoned to the wiles of exploitative interests now that a Consumer Protection Authority is being established. One of the duties of such an authority should be the education of the consumer.

He should be alerted to the basic rules in making an educated choice when confronted with a dazzling array of consumer goods. Besides, this authority needs to hold itself responsible for ensuring that goods sold in the open market conform closely to all health and safety standards. The Authority should also be a source of support for those customers who believe they have been duped by devious business interests.

Economic liberalization seems to be a fait accompli but States need to do everything within their power to ensure the interests of consumers. It is hoped that benign State intervention would guard against tragedies of the kind which occurred when our unsuspecting infant choked on a colourfully-coated ball, mistaking it for a cookie.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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