Consumer Choices not to be taken Lightly

With all the high tech marketing and packaging techniques being employed with more and more sophistication, consumers must be careful about what attracts them and rather, look for what they want in a product.

Is it the colourful package? Is it the corporate look? Is it the old time look of authenticity? What about nutritional value? Forget the secret herbs and spices because disclosure of these ingredients is minimal and can be misleading; take fast foods as a good example.

What about those packages which play on sentiment. You find out that a company producing the secret ingredients to make your food taste like "Grandma's Cooking" is a young man employing potent marketing strategies to sell an average product.

Of serious concern is genetically modified foods (GMFs) and organisms (GMOs), especially the fact that the USA , from where we get most of our foods, is against the labeling of GMFs because they think that the risks are low.

However, there are good, bad and unknowns about GMOs and therefore the argument is that people should be left to make their choices. Furthermore with so much people suffering from diverse ailments and some having to carefully avoid certain ingredients in foods, it is prudent that people are allowed to manage their medical conditions as it has implications for our health bill.

In support of our local agriculture, it is now well known that the best foods to eat the fresh fruits and vegetables grown in the land where you live, especially because they these lose their potency over a few days. Therefore, imported fruits and vegetables are less nutritional than fresh ones.

One importance of consumer education is to familiarise consumers with methods of finding information on products they purchase. For example going on the internet and typing in the name of the drug you are using so that you can get research findings on these and even at the level of medical treatment be able to make a choice. Calling the relevant Department of Government or authority will also give you information or form your own vibrant consumer network to monitor the market (preferable).

One observation is that when doctors and pharmacists fill prescriptions they often repackage the drugs and the information on the original package is not accessible to the patient. In many cases you are taking medication and don't know head or tails what you are taking.

This license to repackage could be very dangerous. The patient has no way of verifying that they have the intended medication. The patient cannot refer to information after leaving the doctor's office or the pharmacy. Some prescriptions are over-the-counter drugs but you pay more because it is a prescription. I think the consumer would rather pay for a consultation with the pharmacist than for a price to be tacked onto an item.

Another problem is that not sufficient attention is paid to the recall of items. Cars were recalled for seat belt problems, tyres, engine, and design. Do you know if your car is among them?

Drugs were recalled because of their perceived threat to health and life. Vioxx and Bextra along with an energy drink called Ammo were among the latest recalls. As a matter of fact there are cases before the courts in the USA claiming damages for the harm done by some of these drugs and lawyers are advertising their services at no charge unless the client wins. Are you or your family under any of this medication?

Candy for children made by the Mars group of companies was recalled for the high level of lead in them. Referring to them as "lead-laced", US authorities are concerned about the high probability of brain damage to children due to lead poisoning.

Recently authorities in the USA have been finding these recalls on store shelves. Many of these products went all over the world including Barbados . Unfortunately we have no mechanism for monitoring these matters which may mean the difference between good health and bad health or between life and death.

As Barbados prepares to host the regional Consumer Conference September 12 th - 14 th 2005 , we will hear about these and more issues. It will be a time for Barbadians to become better educated and informed about consumer matters. Hopefully, the impact of this Conference will take consumerism to a different level of seriousness in Barbados.

Roosevelt O. King
Secretary General
admin@bango.org.bb