Press
Release of “Public Awareness on Genetically Modified Foods”
“
GENETICALLY MODIFIED RAPESEED OR CANOLA OIL HEALTH BENEFITS UNSUBSTANTIATED AND
SCIENTIFICALLY NOT PROVEN” SAYS THE ADVERTISING
STANDARDS COUNCIL OF INDIA, ASKS ADVERTISER TO WITHDRAW OR MODIFY THE ADS
BEFORE 15 DEC, 2014.
New Delhi, Decembery 5th
2014: Jivo Canola oil, the largest
importer of Canadian Rapeseed or Canola Oil in India, has been asked to
withdraw or modify its advertisements latest by the 15th of
December, by the Advertising Standards Councils of India. The ASCI has
concluded that the claims that genetically engineered Canola oil consumption
is the way to 'Stay Fit And Fabulous', That it is a food choice for preventing
heart diseases, boosting memory, preventing cancer, relieving joint pain etc
and is beneficial to diabetic and obese patients and also that it is the 'The World's Most Preferred Healthy Cooking
Oil' have
no scientific evidence and could not be substantiated by the advertiser.
The ASCI took action on a complaint
filed by Rachna Arora on October 31st, 2014, Ms. Arora has been
working to bring about consumer awareness on the risks of using genetic
engineering technology in food and farming for the past five years.
Jivo Canola Oil published a 4 page
supplement titled Healthy Times. This was a part of the main Hindustan Times
newspaper, Gurgaon edition, October 12th, 2014. The four page
supplement included one full page and another half page ad along with various
articles to promote the consumption of Canola oil in general and the specific
brand of genetically engineered Canola oil in particular.
ASCI found that the claims made in
the advertisement were not substantiated under the code I.1. of ASCI which has
been laid down 'to ensure the truthfulness and honesty of representations and
claims made by advertisements and to safeguard against misleading
advertisements’.
What’s unfortunate is that they are
selling unsafe and controversial products to us and getting away with their
lies. I wish we had systems in place to penalize companies making such false
claims blatantly with complete disregard to human health.” “People suffering from Cardiac conditions,
diabetes, joint pains, cancers etc are already of very fragile health and to
impel them to consume Canola oil is unethical and inhuman. It’s a shame that they
are getting away so easily. I pray for
the day when regulating bodies like ASCI would have the power to penalize,
black list and demand public apology from such advertisers. For now, we will
have to make do with withdrawal of advertisements. According to their website Jivo supports
education, healthcare & social welfare of underprivileged rural poor, by
building schools, hospitals & welfare centers in rural India! How crooked
and deceitful is this, when Rapeseed oil
has been associated with Mad Cow, Kidney, liver and cardiac diseases,
said Arora.
The
Jivo plant was inaugurated by Mr Gerry.Ritz (Agriculture minister of Canada) in
2010 in Kundli, Haryana. According to the company website the former director
of Himachal Pradesh agricultural university, Shri iqbal singh is the man behind
Jivo.
Canola contributes about 14$ dollars
to the Canadian economy. India is a huge market for these multinational
companies.
The Advertising Standards Council of
India’s Consumer Complaints Council gave the advertiser many weeks to come up
with a response and proof to substantiate their claims. CCC upheld Ms.
Arora’s complaint and communicated this
to her on the evening of the 4th of Dec.
I urge you to publish this story in
your publication because people must know that all these claims are untrue,
especially the ailing who are vulnerable health wise said Rachna Arora,
convener of ‘Public Awareness on Genetically Modified Food’, a group working to
create informed debates on the use of GE technology.
Rachna Arora, in her complaint to ASCI
dated October 31st 2014, challenged the claims made by Jivo Canola Oil’
and pointed out that the advertisements
promote a toxic food to the public.
ASCI had forwarded the complaint to the advertiser for their comments. ASCI’s
Consumer Complaints Council then discussed the complaints in meetings with the
advertiser. On the 4th of December they informed the complainant
that the complaint has been upheld “as
the advertisement contravened Chapter I. 1. of the ASCI code” . . In a
written response to Ms. Rachna the ASCI representative stated, “The CCC
concluded that the claims in the Ads, “Genetically engineered Canola oil
consumption as the way to 'Stay Fit and Fabulous', as a food choice for
preventing heart diseases, boosting memory, preventing cancer, relieving joint
pain etc., good for diabetes, good for the waist line and 'The World's Most
Preferred Healthy Cooking Oil', were not substantiated with scientific
evidence. The Ads also did not have any qualifiers for these claims. The print
Ads contravened Chapter I.1 of the Code.We have advised the advertiser to withdraw or modify the ad before December 15, 2014.”
Chapter I. 1. of the ASCI code states the following:
Advertisements must be truthful.
All descriptions, claims and comparisons which relate to matters of
objectively ascertainable fact should be capable of substantiation. Advertisers
and advertising agencies are required to produce such substantiation as and
when called upon to do so by the Advertising Standards Council of
For more information, contact:
Rachna Arora : +91 9811746647
===========================
Annexures:
1.
Complaint
made by rachna arora
2.
Decision
by consumer complaint council communicated to the complainant
The Complaint by Ms. Rachna Arora
Dear Sir/Madam,
Greetings!
Today, I submitted the following complaint thrice, at http://www.ascionline.org/index.php/lodge-ur-complaints.html but did not receive any tracking number or acknowledgement.
Today, I submitted the following complaint thrice, at http://www.ascionline.org/index.php/lodge-ur-complaints.html but did not receive any tracking number or acknowledgement.
I am therefore resubmitting the complaint here over email.
Please acknowledge, action expeditiously and advise the tracking number for my
reference. .
Regards,
Rachna
Mobile: 9811746647
The Advertisement
There were two advertisements and a
few articles stating, proclaiming and advocating genetically engineered Canola
oil consumption as the way to 'Stay Fit And Fabulous', as a food choice for
preventing heart diseases, boosting memory, preventing cancer, relieving joint
pain etc. It was also stated to be good for diabetes, good for the waist
line and 'The World's Most Preferred Healthy Cooking Oil'.
The supplement was a Hindustan Times
Media Marketing Initiative, titled Healthy Times. This was a part of the
main HT newspaper, Gurgaon edition, October 12th, 2014. The
four page supplement included one full page and another half page ad along with
huge articles to promote the consumption of Canola oil in general and the
specific brand of genetically engineered Canola oil in particular.
Complaint
1) The advertisements and articles
are false & misleading. They promote a toxic food to the public; more so to
people who are already suffering from dangerous diseases.
2) GM in food has not been approved
by Indian government and the judgment to the PIL is pending in the hon’ble
Supreme court of India. Therefore a company cannot be allowed to promote
this dangerous, controversial food to the Indian people.
I request the ASCI
- To ban advertisements of Jivo
Canola & such oils all over india
- Ban promotion of all food products
containing genetically engineered ingredients, imported or otherwise, processed
or unprocessed; till the time the supreme court verdict & a decision by the
government of India is announced.
- Include above under the ASCI’s
guidelines
- All defaulters should
be blacklisted by ASCI & its member media houses.
Facts against Canola Oil.(Genetically
Engineered Rapeseed Oil)
1. A 2011 review published in
Environmental Sciences Europe, 19 studies of mammals fed GMOs were evaluated.
The 90-day long trials indicate liver and kidney problems. Kidney’s were
disrupted by 43.5% and liver by 30.8%.
2. Canola oil has high levels of
erucic acid, a fatty acid that is associated with heart damage, Heshan’s
Disease, a disease that manifests itself with fibrotic lesions of the heart.
3. Processed Rapeseed oil is very
toxic, even bugs and animals don't eat it. Even after the processing to reduce
the Erucic acid content, it is dangerous.
4.It turns rancid rapidly and leaves
a residual rancid odor.
5. Rape seed oil used for
stir-frying in China has been found to emit cancer causing chemicals. (Rapeseed
oil smoke causes lung cancer) Amal Kumar Maj. The Wall Street JournaL June 7,
1995 pB6(W) pB6 (E) col 1 (11 col in).
6. This oil has been also linked to
the Mad Cow disease, Mad cow disease has dramatically come down after Rapeseed
was removed from animal feed.
7. When piglets were fed a formula
using Canola oil under test conditions; the vitamin E in the blood was reduced
to dangerous levels, causing the blood platelets to become extremely sticky,
impeding blood flow. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9464891)
8. The animal studies carried out
over the past two decades suggest that when rapeseed oil is used in human
diets, without adequate saturated fats from ghee, etc., then the detrimental
effects are magnified. A large percentage of Indian population is malnourished
and ignorant people might get attracted by such advertisements and discounts
being offered.
9. As per a 1995 Wall Street Journal
article, use of rapeseed oil in cooking was associated with greatly increased
rates of lung cancer in the women breathing the fumes while cooking.
10. It is believed that long-term
consumption destroys the myelin sheath around the nerves, deplete Vitamin E,
inhibit proper metabolism and enzyme action and depresses the immune system.
11.Tremors, lack of coordination,
slurred speech, poor memory, incontinence, breathing problems, nervous breakdown,
tingling in extremities and arrhythmia and allergies are caused.
I sincerely hope that ASCI, in the
interest of the people of this country will penalize Jivo, and instruct them to
issue an unequivocal apology, in the same publication. The apology, in my
opinion should match the column size of their false advertisements and similar
to the ad, should be published, over the weekend when readership is high.
Due to the word constraint here on
the ASCI website, I am unable to provide all supporting data. I am therefore,
providing some web links and references for your convenience. I look forward to
your acknowledgement and speedy action in public interest.
Regards,
Rachna
Links
References:
1. RO Vles and others. Nutritional Evaluation
of Low-Erucic-Acid Rapeseed Oils. Toxicological Aspects of Food Safety,
Archives of Toxicology, Supplement 1, 1978:23-32
2. HL Trenholm and others. An
Evaluation of the Relationship of Deitary Fatty Acids to Incidence of
Myocardial Lesions in Male Rats. Canadian Institute of Food Science Technology
Journal, October 1979;12(4):189-193
3. JKG Kramer and others. Reduction
of Myocardial Necrosis in Male Albino Rats by Manipulation of Dietary Fatty
Acid Levels. Lipids, 1982;17(5):372-382.
4. FD Sauer and others. Additional
vitamin E required in milk replacer diets that contain canola oil. Nutrition
Research, 1997;17(2):259-269.
5. JK Kramer and others.
Hematological and lipid changes in newborn piglets fed milk-replacer diets
containing erucic acid. Lipids, January 1998;33(1):1-10.
6. SM Iunis and RA Dyer. Dietary
canola oil alters hematological indices and blood lipids in neonatal piglets
fed formula. Journal of Nutrition, July 1999;129(7):1261-8.
7. WMN Ratnayake and others.
Influence of Sources of Dietary Oils on the Life Span of Stroke-Prone
Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats. Lipids, 2000;35(4):409-420.
8. MN Wallsundera and others.
Vegetable Oils High in Phytosterols Make Erythrocytes Less Deformable and
Shorten the Life Span of Stroke-Prone Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats. Journal
of the American Society for Nutritional Sciences, May, 2000;130(5):1166-78
9 OA Levander and MA Beck. Selenium
and viral virulence. British Medical Bulletin, 1999;55(3):528-33.
10. LL Rudel and others. Dietary
monounsaturated fatty acids promote aortic atherosclerosis in
LDL-receptor-null, human ApoB100-overexpressing transgenic mice.
Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, November
1998;18(11):1818-27.
Consumer
Complaint Council’s Decision Communicated by ASCI to Complainant
Rachna
Arora <rachna01@gmail.com>
|
ASCI Complaint Acknowledgement
1 message |
contact@ascionline.org <contact@ascionline.org>
|
Thu,
Dec 4, 2014 at 6:24 PM
|
|
To: rachna01@gmail.com
|
||
|
||
No comments:
Post a Comment