Cousin Zee was recently relating to me an incident that befell him. On one of his trips to the neighborhood supermarket to get some ice-cream, Cousin Zee was busily examining the vast array of offerings in the freezer section of the store. He finally decided upon Haggen Daz strawberry flavored ice cream.
A local gentleman pushing along a grocery cart and tagged along by three little kids happened to make his way down the aisle. Upon noticing Cousin Zee’s selection, he gave him a disapproving look while continuing his way to the locally produced ice-cream. It took my cousin a while to figure why that look of disdain showed up in that gent’s demeanor.
Aha, figured Cousin Zee. Must be the ice cream! Haggen Daz is an American product, and purportedly with strong links to Israel. And therefore those disapproving looks from the stranger must be silently speaking of boycotting this product, surmised my cousin.
Cousin Zee decided to give it a chance and left the Haggen Daz untouched on the freezer shelf as he busily examined the other products. He was outraged by what he saw. Most of the other products were so full of artificial color that it simply offended his reckoning. And to top it off, there was no descriptive label of content analysis on any of the other products.
Cousin Zee, a man who usually doesn’t mince words, then approached this gentleman and, taking him to the side, told him that while he would honor the promotion of local goods over those with ties to Israel, he was not prepared to sacrifice his health in the process. "Just look at this ice-cream," he continued. "The strawberry food coloring in this bucket smacks of artificial ingredients. And where is a label describing the caloric content or the amount of sugar in this product or any of the locally produced products?"
The gentleman took this outburst in stride as he himself got busily engaged in the search for any label detailing the composition of the products. There wasn’t any! And to make a long story short, Cousin Zee returned home empty handed.
Later that evening, while we were musing over several issues this subject came up. I had to agree with him on the lack of labeling on locally produced goods. In an era when diabetes and high blood pressure are rising among the population, shouldn’t the consumer have a right to know the amount and kind of sugars or sodium contained in these products? Or the various food colorings that go into their preparation?
And just exactly where is SASO, our national standards organization amidst all of this? Should they not take an aggressive policy of enforcing detailed food ingredient labeling on all domestic products? Consumers should be aware of the risks of purchasing foods that may be extremely detrimental to their health. This is what a standards organization should be all about. One that enforces regulations to prevent harm from befalling the user. I shall make it my summer quest to pursue this issue with our friends at SASO.
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On another note, I was rudely jolted by some loud noises on Thursday around midnight! It took me a few seconds to realize that the annual summer festival fireworks had just started before my heart started resuming its normal beats. And then I wondered. Isn’t midnight a terribly late hour to start this shindig? Most children are in bed or at least should be by this late hour. Or are we subtly conditioning our future generation that going to bed late is rewarding.
I realize that it is the summer holidays for most people, but should that let us throw discipline and restraint to the wind? And then I wonder again, after reading that the staff at the specialist hospital here in Jeddah has not been paid their dues. Would not the money used in this spectacle of exploding lights and burning sulfur have a better use somewhere else? Such as feeding the needy here and elsewhere?
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And finally, and on a personal note, the happiest of days to a dear girl in the Eastern Province. She will be celebrating her birthday today, and I wish her an abundance of such happy days in the future. Happy birthday, Naz!
— Tariq A. Al-Maeena, [email protected]