Consumer Education
Debi Mukherjee (India, 24/06/06)
The words “Consumer Education” are very appealing to all of us. It is because every one of us irrespective of our professional commitment is a consumer first.
In fact whole of my professional life had been devoted to the sake of consumers. I was dealing with legislation governing quality and safety of food. There are Rules, Regulations and Standards stipulating labeling requirements, quality and safety parameters of food articles. Individual consumer as well as consumer organizations have been entrusted with the power to have a check on labelling/quality requirements of food articles being sold in the market and initiate legal action in case of any violation.
A number of consumer organizations located in various parts of the country have been doing wonderful work in safeguarding the interest of consumers. However as per my experience imparting education to individual consumer and to convince them to overthrow some of the traditional practices/beliefs is a tough job.
Once I was buying groceries from a shopkeeper in my locality. A lady came and asked for “Biriyani” colour (Rice cooked with vegetables/meat garnished with spices and condiments is known as Biriyani). The shopkeeper offered her a yellow dye-cow brand Metanil Yellow. This a dye used for textiles and known to be a cancer-causing chemical if used for edible purpose for long. As per legal requirements all edible colours are to be marketed under “IS (Indian standards)” certification-a certification Mark for purity and quality granted by the Bureau of Indian Standards under the Ministry of Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution. I volunteered to advise the lady not to buy the colour explaining the reasoning. She completely ignored my cautionary note on the plea that since ages they have been using this colour and nothing untoward happened so far. She paid the price of the colour and went home.
I also recollect another incident. It was hot summer season in Delhi. There had been a number of cases of gastroenteritis due to unhygienic food and contaminated water. The Delhi Municipal Corporations and the New Delhi Municipal Committee had been taking utmost measures through inspection coupled with Information, Education and Communication (IEC) activities to prevent sale and consumption of stale/exposed food articles. We in the Central Government also decided to have a check of our own. I along with a few inspection officials went for a visit in one or two markets in the guise of consumers. In one of the shops we came across exposed sweet meats. Flies were having feast! They were flying to the nearby stinking drains full of mud and again sitting on the sweet meats.
We threw away the sweetmeats on the ground. We also explained the grave consequences of consuming such articles and advised the shopkeeper to follow the hygienic practices of at least covering the food articles exposed for sale. We thereafter marched ahead to other adjacent shops selling prepared food and other edibles. While coming back through the same route we noticed with dismay that the sweat meats thrown by us on the ground have been picked up by the shop owner and displayed for sale. We had no other alternative but to note down the details of the establishment for appropriate legal action.
One of my neighbours in Bhopal has been holding the post of General Manager in a reputed pharmaceutical company. He has been continuously chewing tobacco knowing fully well that it may cause cancer. I keep on cautioning him but in vein. His case reminds me another instance whereby one of my friends in Delhi holding a very senior position in a Thermal Power Station was addicted to pan, supari (betel nut) along with chewing tobacco. My friendly advice to him to desist from such addiction did not bear any fruit till he developed some swelling in the mouth. Suspecting that it is an initial stage of malignancy (growth leading to cancer), he was advised by the All India Institute of Medical Science, Delhi to stop taking pan, supari and chewing tobacco. Since then he had completely abandoned the addiction.
In my official commitment I was also associated with framing of legislation, Rules and Regulations on superiority of breast-feeding over commercial infant milk substitute/infant formula. In fact I was also involved in preparing a web site on infant feeding practices . The key points are:
1. Mother’s milk is the best for the baby.
2. Initiate breastfeeding immediately after birth preferably within 30 minutes.
3. Exclusive breast feeding upto the age of six months i.e. the infant receives only breast milk and nothing else not even water.
4. Appropriate and adequate complimentary feeding based on locally available home cooked food from six months onwards while continuing breast-feeding.
5. Continued breast-feeding upto the age of two years or beyond.
There remains a long gap between theoretical knowledge and practice as far as education of consumers is concerned. The situation could only be improved if education starts from the formative age of child at home and carried forward through schools, colleges and universities.
