Letters to the Editor

"Dear Sir.."

Genetically Modified Foods from Miriam Dub Israel.

"I have already written to major supermarkets and to TIVALL, makers of products containing Soya, complaining about the indiscriminate use of genetic modification in Soya Beans and the lack of clear labelling of such products. My complaint is that the consumer has no choice.

I have no objection to other people choosing foods containing genetically modified ingredients. In fact I am rather grateful that they do so, as new products need to be tested. However, I do object to being forced to myself, and feel it is foolhardy to create a situation where research cannot take place. By this I mean there can be no control groups in a proactive study and no way of tracing causal effects in a reactive study.

Where potentially beneficial advances are made in science they have to be clearly monitored for many, many years.

There must be legal limits so that the consumer is aware of how a particular product has been processed or an animal fed. Extensive research can then be set up by an independent agency and not by anyone with a particular financial interest. We should learn from the BSE fiasco that forcing new products on the population, or animals, without proper monitoring of the effects ends in disaster".

A 'New Improved' product? from Ruth Koprowski

Individual member Ruth Koprowski has confessed to being a customer of "ding - dong -Avon Calling"! She says "after all these years of in formed consumerism some manufacturers and marketeers still try it on!"

"I am a regular Avon customer, mostly for hand cream and occasional other products when on special offer. A gradual process of repackaging has been going on since the UK company acquired a new President, Ms. Sandy Mountford, in an heroic attempt to drag the skin care range up market.

My tale concerns a nail strengthener, first launched in January. Its predecessor had been known as 'Nail Perfect Length and Strength Treatment', of which I had a pack. The 'new' one was on offer and merited a full page in the brochure, described specifically as 'new etc.' packed in a smart box and called 'Strong Results'. Since my nails are soft, especially in winter and break easily, I ventured £1.99 (regular price £3.29) on a bottle of the product.

Hope for an improvement in the condition of my nails soon evaporated. When I compared the formulae of the two products the only new thing about the all new Strong Results was the packaging!

'Strong Results' was still being described as new and exclusive' in the February brochure. This incensed me and I complained to Avon. To cut a long story short my second to last communication was from the Legal Department. The assistant Company Secretary assured me that all statements in their brochure were carefully checked for accuracy but a mistake had indeed been made; the future brochures would be correct. She was grateful to me for bringing the matter to the company's attention.

As a stalwart consumer I wrote to the President (Ms. Mountford, you will recall) telling her of my tale of consumer dissatisfaction. She took a long time to reply but when the reply eventually arrived it was worth waiting for -another apology and a bumper parcel of some of  the choicest products in the range".

New "Consumer News" from Jack Lavety

Jack Lavety, a member of the Aberdeen Consumer Group, likes the new look magazine. He also comments on some of the contents.

"I found this issue of the magazine the best yet and the title is ideal.

My PERSONAL view is that more steps should be taken to stop the feeding of antibiotics to well animals or as a prophylactic. Traces remain and it is exactly that traces that do not kill the bacteria but give them the chance to become resistant.

Genetic modification is a programme that I support, but NOT when it is used to confer resistance in plants to insecticides and therefore, allow heavier doses that would normally harm the plant!!. Heavens above, we are trying to get out of using insecticides, which, by their very nature, are poisons. Instead, the aim should be to improve resistance to the insects themselves. Could there be a conspiracy here? - there are huge commercial interests in the chemical companies.

At the risk of being seen as joining the Ecobandwagon, how about promoting public transport, and bicycles. Parking in Aberdeen is becoming a nightmare and more and more parks require a payment; even the hospital now charges for parking. I've been an advocate of the only way to get people to use public transport is to make it free.

The savings resulting from no administrative or accounting charges for payments would help to offset the cost. Pity that we've privatised the buses."

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