As a Nation can we compete with China for more Foreign Investment ? (Cola Contro

[Guest guest]

Dear Friend,

 

If you are an Indian who thinks globalization is good and we have to

compete with China for better economic growth ,

then you and me as individual need to stand up and say no to few of

these frivolous acts of our political system.

 

Pl. contribute in raising awareness and pl. forward the article

below to as many people as possible.

This way you would be helping in some small way to secure a better

future for us and our country.

 

 

ARTICLE : HOW TO SCORE A SELF GOAL

MEN and IDEAS ..... GURCHARAN DAS (Ex P & G - World Head)

 

Published in Times of India on August 13, 2006

 

Truly, we are a wondrous land! In a country where two thirds of the

children are undernourished,

where 70% of people cannot access safe sanitation and 65 infants die

out of a 1000 born, we are

seriously debating the pesticide levels in a product that is

probably the safest in the world from a

pesticide perspective. Sadly, the controversy has created a scare in

a nation which has among

the lowest pesticide residues in its food chain. Indian diets

contain roughly 18% of acceptable daily

intake levels of pesticide versus western diets which have 45-50%,

according to international experts.

The reason is our diets are extensively vegetarian and meat

inherently has higher pesticide levels

via the grains ingested by animals in food chain.

 

If we are seriously concerned with pesticides, in Indian diets, we

ought to begin with tea. According

to European norms (EU), tea contains 187,300 times the pesticide

than water used in colas. If

hypothetically our colas have exceeded allowable levels by 30 times,

I would still drink 6,200 glasses

of cola and I would have less pesticide in my body than a cup of

tea. The same goes for other foods.

EU norms allow apples to have 154,120 times the pesticide than

water, bananas to have 95,220 times;

milk 7,140 time. So soft drinks are among the safest products we

consume from the pesticide perspective.

This does not mean that our other foods are not safe. Nor is our

food chain polluted - an unfortunate

impression created by media. It means that we do not live in a ideal

world free of pests and pesticides.

 

I am generally a critic of our government, but in this case I give

it credit. It has fixed water standards

which are equal to the highest norms in the world. Since water in

soft drinks conforms to these norms,

it is probably safer to drink a Pepsi in Kerala than in Kentucky.

The government is also now working on

sugar norms and testing a protocol for finished soft drinks. In the

end governments understand that

multinational companies have to maintain high standards because they

have too much to loose.

 

News travels quickly and a disaster in one country can harm a

company's image and sales around the

world. Hence, Indian government wants to do its own tests. The last

time around government data showed

six times lower pesticide levels than CSE's tests.

 

Our state politician have fallen into a trap. They think by banning

colas they have won cheap votes. People

however would soon realize that they have been taken for a ride.

Already , the people of Kerala are

questioning, how can you ban colas and allow the sales of liquor and

cigarettes. Eventually everyone has

lost in this silly business. Our nation has been unfairly smeared

for high pesticide in our food chain. Our

exports of food products will loose the trust of international

customers. Tourists will say, " If I can not drink a

safe cola how can I eat anything in India? " Foreign investors will

be reluctant to invest in a country which

does not observe the rule of law in closing factories. All NGOs have

got a bad name by these smear

tactics. The environmental movement has been hurt. This is sad

because we need a strong civil society to

take on the real problems of India. Finally media has been tarnished

by its lack of application. We have

truly score a self- goal !

 

 

Thanks for your patience and requesting you again to forward this

article to as many people as possible.

 

 

If you think this mail is invasion of your privacy , pl. excuse as I

have marked it to all mail Id's in my system.

[Guest guest]

maybe this egroup is NOT the appropriate forum for this. please lets stick to our modus operadi and not detract/don't corrupt our group. ciao hariprasadshetty <hariprasadshetty wrote: Dear Friend, If you are an Indian who thinks globalization is good and we have to compete with China for better economic growth , then you and me as individual need to stand up and say no to few of these frivolous acts of our political system. .

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