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Just fizz

R.Desikan

As far as consumers are concerned, the truth seems to be elusive. Let me illustrate with a few examples.

I took up a campaign against the adulteration of petroleum products as early as in 1986, even before the Consumer Protection Act was introduced. Pursuing this subject, in 1994 I received information about the campaign for unleaded petrol. It was a stupid campaign and was successful.

Unleaded petrol meant a reduction in the levels of lead in petrol. It is my belief that lead is added to petrol so that automobile engines do not knock and can run smoothly. During the period up to the late 1980s, the lead content in the atmosphere was c onsidered much higher than is safe, leading to dangerous pollution. Therefore, well-meaning groups began campaigning against leaded petrol. An alternative available was the addition of benzene which has anti-knocking properties. The governments of variou s countries however pushed through unleaded petrol without going into the pros and cons of benzene. I believe that even the petroleum industry was against such a move. Anyway, we now have unleaded petrol flooding the market.

This is where the consumer is confused and no attempt is made to inform the consumer of the truth.

I wrote earlier about how the US soyabean lobby literally killed the coconut exports of a developing country, the Philippines, by sponsoring anti-coconut oil research. In the area of medicine (patients who are consumers) never know the truth about any me dication. Do they have any information about the chemical properties of the medicine, its reaction on the human body, etc? Today in western countries, however, the patient is no longer willing to accept any medicine unless he/she is informed of possible reactions.

What about the advertisements crowding our TV channels and the print and broadcast media? That many advertisements make unrealistic claims is evident. When we come to aerated beverages, the image projected by well-known international brands is that consu mption of their soft drinks will make a person popular, will make a girl run after a man, will boost energy, etc. But the facts as stated by a consumer organisation, EMPOWER, are quite different.

* You gulp down carbon dioxide which nobody in the world in their right senses would advise you to drink.

* Two months ago, there was a competition at Delhi University as to who could drink the most Coke. The winner drank eight bottles and fainted on the spot as a result of too much carbon dioxide in the blood. Thereafter, the principal banned all soft drink s from the college canteen. While this might have been an extreme measure, the results do provide some food for thought.

* Did you know that soft drinks contain chemicals that cause you immense harm? A broken tooth put in a bottle of Pepsi dissolved in 10 days! Can you believe it? Teeth and bones are the only human parts that stay intact for years after death. Imagine what the drink must be doing to your soft intestines and stomach lining.

It would be interesting to receive suggestions from readers on how to educate consumers about the truth.

The author is former chairman, Federation of Consumer Organisations, Tamil Nadu.

He can be contacted at desikan@vsnl.com