Showing posts with label gen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gen. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Cigarettes may contain pig blood
10:29 PM | Posted by
Admin
CIGARETTES may contain traces of pigs' blood, an Australian academic says with a warning that religious groups could find its undisclosed presence "very offensive".
University of Sydney Professor in Public Health Simon Chapman points to recent Dutch research which identified 185 different industrial uses of a pig - including the use of its haemoglobin in cigarette filters.
Prof Chapman said the research offered an insight into the otherwise secretive world of cigarette manufacture, and it was likely to raise concerns for devout Muslims and Jews.
Religious texts at the core of both of these faiths specifically ban the consumption of pork.
"I think that there would be some particularly devout groups who would find the idea that there were pig products in cigarettes to be very offensive," Prof Chapman said today.
"The Jewish community certainly takes these matters extremely seriously and the Islamic community certainly do as well, as would many vegetarians.
"It just puts into hard relief the problem that the tobacco industry is not required to declare the ingredients of cigarettes ... they say 'that's our business' and a trade secret."
The Dutch research found pig haemoglobin - a blood protein - was being used to make cigarette filters more effective at trapping harmful chemicals before they could enter a smoker's lungs.
Prof Chapman said while tobacco companies had moved voluntarily list the contents of their products on their websites, they also noted undisclosed "processing aids ... that are not significantly present in, and do not functionally affect, the finished product".
This catch-all term hid from public view an array of chemicals and other substances used in the making of tobacco products, he said.
At least one cigarette brand sold in Greece was confirmed as using pig haemoglobin in its processes, Prof Chapman said, and the status of smokes sold was unknown.
"If you're a smoker and you're of Islamic or Jewish faith then you'd probably would want to know and there is no way of finding out," Prof Chapman said.
The Sydney office of British American Tobacco Australia was contacted by AAP.
A spokeswoman said a comment would be provided although it was not immediately available.
University of Sydney Professor in Public Health Simon Chapman points to recent Dutch research which identified 185 different industrial uses of a pig - including the use of its haemoglobin in cigarette filters.
Prof Chapman said the research offered an insight into the otherwise secretive world of cigarette manufacture, and it was likely to raise concerns for devout Muslims and Jews.
Religious texts at the core of both of these faiths specifically ban the consumption of pork.
"I think that there would be some particularly devout groups who would find the idea that there were pig products in cigarettes to be very offensive," Prof Chapman said today.
"The Jewish community certainly takes these matters extremely seriously and the Islamic community certainly do as well, as would many vegetarians.
"It just puts into hard relief the problem that the tobacco industry is not required to declare the ingredients of cigarettes ... they say 'that's our business' and a trade secret."
The Dutch research found pig haemoglobin - a blood protein - was being used to make cigarette filters more effective at trapping harmful chemicals before they could enter a smoker's lungs.
Prof Chapman said while tobacco companies had moved voluntarily list the contents of their products on their websites, they also noted undisclosed "processing aids ... that are not significantly present in, and do not functionally affect, the finished product".
This catch-all term hid from public view an array of chemicals and other substances used in the making of tobacco products, he said.
At least one cigarette brand sold in Greece was confirmed as using pig haemoglobin in its processes, Prof Chapman said, and the status of smokes sold was unknown.
"If you're a smoker and you're of Islamic or Jewish faith then you'd probably would want to know and there is no way of finding out," Prof Chapman said.
The Sydney office of British American Tobacco Australia was contacted by AAP.
A spokeswoman said a comment would be provided although it was not immediately available.
- AAP
- March 30, 2010
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Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Indian Concerns Should Be National Concern..
KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 (Bernama) -- The grievances of the 1.8 million-strong Malaysian Indian community should be viewed as a national concern and addressed in the 10th Malaysia Plan, a socio-economic expert said here.
Datuk Dr Denison Jayasooria, who is the principal research fellow of the Institute of Ethnic Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, said there were concerns the community's problems were seen as a 'community' concern, rather than national.
"...as most government agencies do not look seriously into issues pertaining to crime, violence, urban poverty, and issues pertaining to quality of life, inadequate infrastructure for Tamil school, low recruitment and promotion opportunities in both public and private sectors.
"Often, both politicians and public servants are calling on political parties and voluntary organisations to address these issues," he told Bernama.
He said, the community strongly felt that socio-economic concerns of all Malaysians should be the concern of the government. Hence, public funds should be utilised to address major concerns beyond the capacity of the voluntary sector.
He said this was one of several grievances put forth by community leaders, non-governmental organisations and political parties at a three-day discussion held late last year to receive input and feedback on the Ninth Malaysia Plan�s policies and programmes.
This was aimed at providing input to the 10th Malaysia Plan, which would be tabled in Parliament in mid-year and implemented from 2011.
Denison said the community also wanted the government to scale up programmes for the Indian youth to ensure they reached a larger segment.
"Reaching out to young people only at the post-secondary level does not take into account the comprehensive nature of social problems at the individual, family and community levels," said the former head of MIC 'think-tank' Yayasan Strategik Sosial.
He said, there was a need for government agencies to "build into" programmes, like a mapping project which could document the impact over the next five to 10 years to capture the transformation experience or individuals and families.
"The urgent need in the 10th Malaysia Plan process is to budget for five years and provide adequate funding for operations and programmes.
"In addition, the government should establish a community consultative council to meet on a quarterly basis to review feedback on developments and highlight difficulties encountered at the grassroots, especially at the implementation level," added Denison.
-- BERNAMA
Datuk Dr Denison Jayasooria, who is the principal research fellow of the Institute of Ethnic Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, said there were concerns the community's problems were seen as a 'community' concern, rather than national.
"...as most government agencies do not look seriously into issues pertaining to crime, violence, urban poverty, and issues pertaining to quality of life, inadequate infrastructure for Tamil school, low recruitment and promotion opportunities in both public and private sectors.
"Often, both politicians and public servants are calling on political parties and voluntary organisations to address these issues," he told Bernama.
He said, the community strongly felt that socio-economic concerns of all Malaysians should be the concern of the government. Hence, public funds should be utilised to address major concerns beyond the capacity of the voluntary sector.
He said this was one of several grievances put forth by community leaders, non-governmental organisations and political parties at a three-day discussion held late last year to receive input and feedback on the Ninth Malaysia Plan�s policies and programmes.
This was aimed at providing input to the 10th Malaysia Plan, which would be tabled in Parliament in mid-year and implemented from 2011.
Denison said the community also wanted the government to scale up programmes for the Indian youth to ensure they reached a larger segment.
"Reaching out to young people only at the post-secondary level does not take into account the comprehensive nature of social problems at the individual, family and community levels," said the former head of MIC 'think-tank' Yayasan Strategik Sosial.
He said, there was a need for government agencies to "build into" programmes, like a mapping project which could document the impact over the next five to 10 years to capture the transformation experience or individuals and families.
"The urgent need in the 10th Malaysia Plan process is to budget for five years and provide adequate funding for operations and programmes.
"In addition, the government should establish a community consultative council to meet on a quarterly basis to review feedback on developments and highlight difficulties encountered at the grassroots, especially at the implementation level," added Denison.
-- BERNAMA
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