The Hindu Business Line : Drink to health

The controversy surrounding reports of high levels of toxins in soft drinks may force many Indians to reassess their priorities in terms of food and drink. People need to ask how unscrupulous advertising and aggressive selling influences their tastes and appetite. When profit-oriented companies increasingly control what we eat and drink, can ordinary consumers make a rational choice, or are we reduced to helpless victims?

Aerated drinks, for instance, are symbolic of instant gratification and a globalised `pop' culture. They are part of the daily diet in many Indian homes. And in some homes, they are probably consumed more than water!

Cola advertisements also reinforce the images that soft drinks are associated with — a classy, fun loving, carefree, and a laughter-filled atmosphere. The commercials show youngsters having fun, bursting with good health and camaraderie, with money flowing easily. The ads encourage an ethos in which such drinks are seemingly essential to everyday living. As journalist Malvika Khanna says, "If I serve nimbu-pani at my child's birthday party, children ask, `Where's the Pepsi, Aunty?' It's as if they don't recognise homemade nimbu-pani any more. And certainly not at a party!"

Children — the quintessential consumers today — are definitely the soft targets for such advertising.

Action India, an NGO working in Delhi's low-income colonies, has created a programme for researching and preserving India's diverse food traditions. Migrants from several states inhabit these colonies, providing scope for sharing the vast reserves of culinary knowledge and cuisines available in the country.

Says activist Uma Rani, "Buttermilk, mango panna and bel (wood-apple) sherbet are extremely beneficial in hot weather. We are urging people to consume these traditional drinks. They maintain the digestive tract, tone up our system, and keep us cool."

India has an amazing variety of traditional drinks, appropriate in terms of health, nutrition, ecology and cost. But today, we are in danger of losing this variety, in the rush to adopt aerated drinks. Several middle-class homes prefer to offer colas during parties, dinners and even religious ceremonies. This way we encourage our children to reject the diverse Indian drinks as old-fashioned and boring. In fact, by failing to properly introduce them to the traditional variety, we are effectively denying them the right to basic information and informed choice.

The soft drinks industry is just the tip of the iceberg. There are pesticides in virtually everything we eat today. High pesticide content is a concern for foodgrains, fruits and vegetables, even water. Aged rural women in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar say that the young no longer have strength in their bodies. This is because the food has no strength and has excessive pesticides and fertilisers, which creates diseases. Children and adults suffer from many gastric, skin and other ailments, that were not even heard of earlier.

Essentially, what damns colas is the fact that these drinks have no nutritive value whatsoever. A newspaper advertisement by Coca-Cola admits, "Soft drinks are primarily made up of sugar, water, flavours and flavourings."

In an era when multinationals are pushing Genetically Modified foods, when biotechnology is part of a flourishing business, and nearly everything on our table is toxic, we need to ask whether it is still possible to grow `safe' foods and consume `healthier' drinks. Civil society activists are questioning a developmental paradigm that favours profit over health, food security, free information and basic human rights.

It's really time to return to grandma's recipes for buttermilk, phalsa and jamun juice (both summer fruits), mango panna and thandai (a milk drink with dry fruits), rhododendron juice and nimbu-pani, and herbal teas — all these have been carefully nurtured over the centuries.

Women's Feature Service

More Stories on : Beverages | Health | Lifestyle

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Who's on the hit list?