Safer Cars for Latin America – The campaign so far

Roundtable participants, including the Vice-Minister for the Environment, Transport Minister, representatives from the State Consumer Protection Agency, AA Peru, ASPEC, CI and El Poder.

Since early 2016, the Bloomberg Philanthropies car safety team at Consumers International (CI) has been working in partnership with consumer groups across Latin America on a regional campaign for safer cars. From our initial campaign planning workshop in Santiago in January, to our recent campaign report launch in Lima, great strides have been made to pressure Latin American governments to tighten up car safety regulation, call out manufacturers for applying double standards on safety, and to raise awareness amongst consumers.

What is the problem?

Each year 1.25 million people die on the roads globally with 74% of these deaths occurring in middle-income countries, such as Peru or Mexico. Road deaths in Latin America stand at 17 per 100,000 people, whereas in high-income countries, the figure is 8.7 per 100,000 people.

The United Nations (UN) has a system of minimum regulations to protect car occupants and other road users when crashes occur, such as seat belts, airbags and active safety systems.

Sadly, no Latin America government, other than Ecuador, is currently anywhere near fulfilling these standards. However, in the USA, or anywhere in Europe, or in Japan, or Australia – these standards are rigorously observed.

As a result, manufacturers, such as GM/Chevrolet, Nissan, Fiat, Volkswagen, Suzuki and Hyundai are producing cars for Latin American consumers with minimal or no safety features. This double standard is causing thousands of preventable deaths on Latin American roads.

Consumer groups pushing for change 

Improving car safety in Latin America is a goal that has united CI Member organisations in Latin America to work together on a regional advocacy campaign, sharing resources and expertise and applying these to pressure for change and support consumers to make more informed choices in their own countries.  For example:

Enrique Prado from the Automobile Association of Peru, Crisologo Caceres from ASPEC, Tamara Meza from CI and Stephan Brodziak from El Poder pose after the press conference

• El Poder del Consumidor in Mexico is pushing for legislative change, exposing the double standards of manufacturers such as GM/Chevrolet and Nissan and developing great consumer materials to raise awareness of unsafe cars being sold in Mexico.
• ASPEC in Peru has set up a multi-sectoral platform involving civil society, government ministries and car industry representatives to push for improved legislation in Peru. It is also raising consumer awareness through its daily radio shows broadcast throughout Peru.
• ODECU in Chile were keynote speakers at the recent Stop the Crash press conference and activity in Santiago to highlight key crash avoidance technologies such as Electronic Stability Control (ESC), and recently had a face-to-face meeting with Minister of Transport regarding improving car safety regulation.
• Union of Users and Consumers in Argentina have featured on national TV in Argentina calling on consumers to prioritise safety features when they buy a car and has been actively supporting Latin NCAP and highlighting misleading advertising by car manufacturers.
• Proteste in Brazil has been actively campaigning for the Brazilian government to bring forward the introduction of ESC, which is a potentially life-saving technology that prevents cars from skidding. They achieved widespread national coverage at their press day on ESC in March 2016.

CI report on car safety makes headline news

CI Regional Networker Tamara Meza and Stephan Brodziak from El Poder del Consumidor in Mexico giving interviews

Our most recent campaign highlight was the launch of our campaign report on car safety in Latin America in Lima in Peru in early June. Our report showed the scale of unsafe cars being sold in Latin America, and the poor quality information being provided to consumers about safety and has received some great press coverage. Our research highlighted that:

• Cars rated with zero or one stars by the New Car Assessment Programme for Latin America and the Caribbean (Latin NCAP) were best selling cars across Chile, Argentina, Mexico and Brazil from 2012-2015
• Fifteen of the 22 cars tested by Latin NCAP and rated with zero or one stars are still being sold to in Latin America. In Peru - 10 models were available, in Chile - 9 models, Mexico – 5 models and Argentina – 4 models. Brazil has just one model available
• Latin NCAP have stated that car occupants in such cars would have little chance of surviving a crash at 64 km per hour
• GM/Chevrolet is the leading manufacturer of zero star cars in Latin America with best-selling zero star cars in Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico from 2012-2015. That is at least 700,000 Chevrolet cars that would not be allowed on US roads.

And our qualitative mystery shopping study discovered that:

• In some cases car dealerships were unable to provide basic safety information to consumers, and instances of citing inaccurate information about car safety, such as saying the addition of two airbags will solve the poor safety performance of a zero star car.

Following the press launch, which has received widespread media coverage, a round table was held with participation from the Vice-Minister for the Environment, Transport Minister, State Ombudsman, State Consumer Protection Agency and Automobile Association of Peru. A multisector platform for advancing car safety was launched at the event and our colleagues at ASPEC had a follow up meeting in late June with the Director General from the Ministry of Transport. This is really brilliant news for the future of car safety in Peru.

Support the campaign

With our Members in Latin America, we been working alongside Global and Latin New Car Assessment Programmes to push for improved car safety regulation.

We are calling on:

• Governments and manufacturers across Latin America to adopt UN Vehicle Safety Regulations in full. This will stop the sale of unsafe cars and help reduce deaths and injuries on our roads 
• Manufacturers to provide accessible and accurate information to consumers about safety, in their dealerships and online 
• Consumer and other organisations concerned about car safety to work together to raise consumer awareness about car safety and the safety ratings of Latin NCAP

You can help stop the shocking double standard in global car safety standards by taking our campaign action

Safer Cars: Increased safety is paramount

Antonino Serra Cambaceres, Consumers International's 

Global Programme Manager for Consumer Justice and Protection, outlines why Electronic Stability Control (ESC) is needed in all vehicles following his personal experience of an ESC test on a race track in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The figures speak for themselves: every year more than 1.2 million people worldwide die from automobile accidents. Car safety is, therefore, an important issue and deserves the attention of those who advocate greater safeguards for consumers.

Consumers International (CI) is working on and supporting campaigns around the world to make cars safer. One way we are doing this is by calling for the inclusion of technological innovations in cars that help decrease the risk of fatal accidents. One of these new technologies is Electronic Stability Control (ESC), a device that allows cars to stabilise when a sudden and unexpected manoeuvre occurs, reducing the risk of roll-overs.

Many countries, including the United States, Israel, Ireland, Japan, Russia, South Korea and Turkey have decided that all new cars sold in their territories must have ESC. In the case of the United States, mandatory ESC was introduced in all new cars in 2012. It is estimated that the device has since saved more than 6,000 lives.

In Latin America the use of ESC is still a pending issue. In Brazil, the government expects that ESC will be mandatory for all new vehicles by 2022, a period too long for PROTESTE - Associação Brasileira de Defesa do Consumidor, one of CI's Brazilian Members , which launched a campaign to establish the device as mandatory by 2018, the date when it will be mandatory in Argentina.

On March 23, PROTESTE invited Brazilian and Mexican journalists for a demonstration of ESC at the Interlagos circuit in the city of Sao Paulo. The idea was to test two identical vehicles, one of which had ESC and the other not; a professional test driver was responsible for manoeuvring both cars with journalists as passengers, so they could personally experience the differences of stability in one car compared to the other.

I was fortunate  to do the test and confess that the result was striking. The driver took us first to the car without ESC by a part of the track and indicated, before performing sudden manoeuvres, the risks entailed with such movements. He then went to another part of the track that had been prepared in advance with cones and a copiously wet pavement and performed the same manoeuvres; showcasing the differences with the dry track. He later ran the tests with the car with ESC. The differences between the two were noticeable, and I experienced in practice how the car with ESC could quickly stabilise to prevent it from skidding or rolling over.

There is no doubt that this technology is essential in avoiding many of the accidents that occur today. Contrary to what one might suppose, the cost of including it in a car only makes a marginal impact on the final cost of the vehicle. We were informed that in Brazil the cost of installation is around USD $50. If we consider the price of some purely aesthetic car accessories like alloy wheels, spoilers or chrome fittings, or stereos that far exceed this figure and which are superfluous, the conclusion is that the inclusion of ESC should be urgent in all new models of cars.

Some luxury cars sold in Latin America already have ESC, raising the sad dichotomy that to have greater security more money is needed; the most popular cars that have the highest sales figures could still wait many years to include an essential device which, as noted, does not involve a significant cost.

We expect the Brazilian government to take note of this and bring forward the introduction of ESC in all cars to 2018. We also expect other Latin American governments to react, making ESC mandatory equipment for all vehicles as soon as possible.

“Five Stars that Save Lives” – Latin American Consumer Organisations unite to Make Cars Safer

Consumers International's (CI) Advocacy Specialist Ebony Riddell Bamber reflects on her experience at a recent car safety workshop in Santiago, Chile with CI Members from Latin America.

An empowered consumer with a five star car! – designed by ASPEC, CI Member in Peru.

It was my first trip to Chile and I was filled with nervous anticipation and excitement about meeting CI Members from across Latin America. Would I be able to communicate effectively (my Portuguese is good, my Spanish is… well more like “Portu-nol”)? Would the issue of unsafe cars being manufactured in Latin America be recognised for what I think it is - a consumer rights crisis? How would colleagues from different contexts (manufacturing countries such as Mexico, importing countries such as El Salvador), with varying levels of car safety regulation, and with vastly different geopolitical profiles (from the Dominican Republic to Brazil) work together to develop shared communications strategies?

In a strange but appropriate coincidence, on our first day in Santiago we passed a Nissan showroom, a Hyundai showroom and the Automobile Club of Chile. We hadn’t even started the workshop but our stakeholder mapping exercise was in full swing. Both of these car companies have achieved a zero star rating for one of their models in Latin NCAP crash test results – the lowest safety ranking in terms of performance in the unfortunate but not unlikely event of a car crash - so they could potentially be identified as key campaign targets. But that would be something we needed to debate collectively through the workshop, alongside other questions: How could we most effectively target governments for tighter regulation of car safety standards? Was it realistic to ask manufacturers to voluntarily adopt UN Vehicle Safety standards? How could we mobilise the power of consumers to make change happen and shift manufacturers to take a more ethical approach to manufacturing and marketing cars in low and middle income markets?

As we climbed the Cerro San Cristobal in the funicular railway marvelling at the amazing views of Santiago and the Andes beyond emerging before us, the voices of excited young passengers filled the air and my thoughts once again drifted to the theme of car safety. Now that I am working on CI’s campaign for safer cars I pause for thought each time I strap my children into the back of my own car (which is actually a four star model if you’re interested – and yes I am considering changing this).  Safety is a universal concern for consumers, and a key consumer right, so why is that generally only people in the US, Canada, Europe, Russia, Japan or Australia - i.e. high income markets - enjoy the security of a five star car? Meanwhile 90% of the total road deaths a year (1.3 million according to the World Health Organisation) are taking place in low and middle income countries where zero star cars continue to be manufactured or imported. Lives are needlessly being cut short due to lack of regulation and the sale of unsafe cars.  

Day 1 - Safer Cars for Latin America Workshop

The first day of the workshop involved sharing the robust data being collected by Latin NCAP on the safety performance of various car models being sold across Latin America. As Alejandro Furas from Latin NCAP explained the technical guidelines underpinning the Latin NCAP model of crash testing, and then moved on to showing actual models - such as the Nissan Tsuru and Chevrolet Aveo - being tested, the mood and temperature in the room changed. For some CI Members this was the first time the reality of what a zero star car means to the passengers and vehicle became clear.  It is horrifying, shocking and arresting. People needed some time to cool off, take it all in, and think about what we could do collectively to change this.

Elizabeth Ibérico Robles and Pablo Mayor from ASPEC, CI Member in Peru, share their campaign plan.

The rest of the day continued with a Q&A and presentations, firstly from Stop the Crash which was set up to highlight three important crash avoidance technologies – Electronic Stability Control (ESC), Autonomous Emergency Braking and Anti-Locking Brakes for motorcycles. Stop the Crash and CI are in partnership to push for implementation of these technologies. CI Member Proteste from Brazil highlighted their excellent work to push for Electronic Stability Control to be included in the manufacture of all new vehicles there. Sonia Amaro shared some key campaign nuggets around how to stimulate people to take part in campaign actions (Proteste got support from some 20,000 people in the last car safety campaign!), and influence government officials. 

Day 2 – Country campaign planning

By day two we were ready to start campaign planning. We shared some key tools - such as how to formulate SMART objectives, and the key elements of an advocacy campaign - but most participants were pretty well versed in approaches to shifting policy and practice in favour of consumers. CI Members from across the continent shared information about how they could go about influencing improved regulation, and how this would take different forms. For example, Samuel Vargas and Johanny Ramires de Reyes from FUNDECOM highlighted that the Dominican Republic was an importer of used cars and that the issue was about regulating the safety of these cars before they were sold to consumers, and highlighting what consumers should be looking for in a safe car. Maira Jana Cisneros and Isabel Muñoz from Tribuna Ecutoriana de Consumidores Y Usarios  spoke of the need for civil society and consumer organisations to come together to influence government ministries and manufacturers. 

El Poder shared their strategy, data and campaign tools for strengthening regulation in Mexico, which helped contextualise how other organisations could think about pushing for five star cars across Latin America. Nothing less would do. The need for strengthening consumer awareness was highlighted through their market research work, which showed that safety was only the seventh most important issue to consider when selecting a car for Mexican consumers, just above size of the boot/trunk.  Price and then comfort were most important. Clearly, transforming consumer perceptions will be a key campaign goal.

By the end of day two, we had mini-campaign strategies for seven Latin American countries - shows what can be achieved when a bunch of consumer organisations get together with a clear purpose! 

Claudio Boada from Union de Usarios y Consumidores in Argentina share their comprehensive campaign plan, co-produced with colleagues from Consumidores Argentinos.

Day 3 - #carrosmasseguros

The final day focused on communications strategies and shared regional messaging - which was potentially the most tricky part of the workshop.  Cristian Canales from CI Member ODECU shared a powerful example of anti-drink driving campaign that had been launched in Chile following the death of a nine month old baby girl, called Emilia. This led to the introduction of new legislation with tougher penalties for drink driving. It was agreed that highlighting the human cost of unsafe cars would be a valuable tactic in any campaign in the region to push for improved regulation. Some really fascinating and important points were made about the nuances of developing messaging in the various countries represented, but views coalesced around a couple of key campaign messages (which for now will remain a secret!). 

We all left the workshop having valued the opportunity to develop our knowledge of how to make cars safer for Latin American consumers and cross-fertilise ideas and strategies for change.  Watch this space in the coming months to find out how the campaign progresses!

Workshop farewell photo!

Can social media improve access to drinking water?

CI’s Hubert Linders looks at a project in Latin America which allows consumers to participate in regulating formerly public services through the use of social networks. 

Access to public utilities like drinking water, energy or telecommunications, require vast infrastructure investments and maintenance. Many Latin American countries privatized these services in the last decades of the 20th Century, telling consumers that private companies would be able to provide more efficient and cheaper services than government-owned institutions.

In their apparent rush to do so and because of lobbying by specific interest groups, regulation was often forgotten or poorly taken care of by the governments, leaving end-users without the possibility to claim their rights when the service delivery was less than optimal.

About two years ago, Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC) approached Consumers International (CI) in Santiago to ask if we were interested in carrying out a project on the use of ICT tools to improve the participation of consumers in the processes of regulation of and access to public services.

A pilot project was designed in which two CI members, CDC in El Salvador and ASPEC in Peru, worked in a peri-urban zone where a public service – access to drinking water – became the subject of an investigation.

The organisations were asked to define target groups of citizens within their respective working areas and find out about the use of communication technology (access to internet, use of web 2.0 sites or social networks, application of mobile phones, etc.), their problems with respect to the service, and contacts with the provider and regulator.

Text messages were chosen as the ‘tool’ to allow the people participating in the project to communicate with their water providers (eg, to report problems) as there is more access to mobile phones than the Internet in the project area. Providers can use the same system to warn end-users of changes or cut-off of their water supply because of repairs or other problems.

CDC developed its own application, Matilti (meaning communication in Nahuatl, the local language), while ASPEC decided to use an existing tool, TextMagic. Both organisations designed a capacity-building programme to train the people in the use of the tool and to educate them on the work of the respective consumer associations, consumer rights and how to claim these rights.

Both organisations then encouraged participants to communicate via text message with their water provider and regulator to improve client contact and complaint handling.

A project website and a blog  were set up to inform about the project’s objective, the activities in both project countries and about the investigation.

All participating organisations were very enthusiastic about the opportunities the social networks offer. They not only make it easier and faster to reach a wider audience but also opened up the issues to a new audience of the younger citizens who show little previous interest in consumer rights issues.

The outcomes so far look very promising in Peru where the drinking water provider (SEDAPAL) and the regulator (SUNASS) are becoming more responsive to comments and complaints from consumers as the project progresses.

While in El Salvador, communities are directly communicating more and more with the water provider, ANDA. Here, the governmental consumer protection agency, Defensoría del Consumidor, also receives messages sent to ANDA and will take action if the provider does not resolve the problem within a fixed time.

Also, the Ministry of Health is looking at the tool to see if it can be used to monitor the prices of medicines set by pharmacies throughout the whole country; while the Ministry of Economy has shown interest as well.

The project runs until (end of) February 2013 and we are looking to extend it until (end of) June 2013.

Developments in Costa Rica spell sweet news for pineapple growers and consumers

CI’s Catherine Nicholson on the lasting impact of Consumers International’s pineapple trade investigation.

A year ago CI were busy finalising the documentary Pineapples: Luxury fruit at what price? with the help of Banana Link and The Guardian. The film, is part of our ongoing work on the social responsibility polices of supermarkets, illustrates some of the harsh working conditions and environmental degradation resulting from large scale pineapple production in Costa Rica.

The reaction to the film – in Costa Rica and elsewhere – ranging from support to suspicion and denial reflected the intransigence of the situation. At the time, CI supported the call by trade unions in Costa Rica for a multi-stakeholder dialogue on the issues – a move that seemed to be the only possible constructive way forward.

The recent launch of the National Platform for Responsible Pineapple Production and Trade seems like a very positive step in the right direction – it brings together all players including government, growers, exporters, the retail giant Walmart and crucially, trade unions, round the table – a first for the industry in Costa Rica.

It is too early to say what this initiative will deliver for those who work in the industry now and for Costa Rica in the future. The initial focus on environmental issues is perhaps a reasonable (and less controversial?) first step but key social issues that featured in our research – freedom of association, wage trends, and the treatment of migrant workers have yet to be firmly defined on the agenda.

Proof of the commitment by all members of the platform to a truly responsible industry will be in the tangible results that we hope to see in terms of improvements in the lives of workers, their families and communities as well as the environment in which they live. Then pineapples really will taste sweeter...

Costa Rica will pay the price for cheap fruit

The Guardian's Felicity Lawrence on making Pineapples: Luxury fruit at what price for Consumers International.



While making our film about the pineapple industry in Costa Rica, I interviewed the buyer of one of the major European supermarket chains, who wanted to remain anonymous(they usually do).
He was worried that the most intense production of pineapples is based in Costa Rica's flat Atlantic region where the humidity is highest and pests on the monoculture plantations are the most troublesome. They need more pesticides there than the farms in the hilly, more windy area further west, but without the same economies of scale and with the extra distance from the port, it's more expensive to produce where the environmental cost is lower.
When it came to growing bananas, he wasn't sure Costa Rica was even the right country from an environmental point of view. The humidity of the region meant that 54 agrochemical treatments are typically needed in a cycle compared to only 14 or 15 in parts of Ecuador where the climate is less favourable to the sigatoka fungus that is ravaging the crop around the world.
Agrochemicals are an issue for pineapples too. Clearing old pineapple plants after harvest so that you can replant the next crop again is done fastest and mostly cheaply with very high doses of paraquat. Paraquat is banned in Europe because it is so acutely toxic. Some Costa Rican plantations avoid it – notably those with Rainforest Alliance or Fairtrade certifications, but they then have to plough in the old stalks and wait for the plant matter to decompose. Time is money and if no one will pay a premium for your efforts, it's harder to justify.
Other environmentally beneficial techniques don't come cheap either: buffer zones between the edge of plantations and water ways, protection of rainforest areas, making sure workers who spray agrochemicals only do so for a couple of hours at a time so that they are not out sweating in the heat and therefore more exposed to toxic effects – all these things cost money.
One of the greatest problems is that the transnational traders' and retailers' power outstrips the government's ability to regulate. Costa Rica is more stable, democratic and ecologically minded than many developing countries, which is precisely why it is so attractive to foreign investors, yet its environmental laws remain weak and have barely kept up with an industry that has seen explosive growth.
And, of course, the situation isn't helped by price wars that are driving producers towards the kind of industrial agriculture that takes a heavy toll both on the environment and on the lives of those who live and work in the plantations' shadow.

This blog first appeared on the Guardian's Green Living blog. Find out more about the CI's work on Corporate Social Responsibility.

Latin American consumer groups look for solidarity

Boris Wolf, Global Member Services Coordinator at CI, says consumer organisations in Latin America are inspired by legislation abroad.

Last month I met with consumer organisations from Argentina, Brazil and Chile and overall I feel greatly encouraged by the conviction shared by many members that organisations from the region should look beyond Latin America, both further to the north and south.

An organisation from El Salvador, CDC, said that it is through learning of the existence of legislation about insolvency in France, Italy and Chile that they made demands for changes to the national law. CONADECUS from Chile also made the point that it could be interesting to share evidence gathered about the long term impact of private pension funds on consumers with other consumer organisations in countries where this system is currently being implemented. Chile has pioneered reforms for funding pensions since the 90s.

Looking at the common problems encountered in dealing with northern transnational companies is also an area that got a great response from consumer organisations in all three countries.

But the withdrawal of international cooperation continues to pose a very grave challenge to the operational capacities of consumer organisations in Latin America. A few are faced with the challenge of making the transition to becoming a more mature and sustainable organisation but many still do not know if they will continue to exist beyond a year or two.

More consumer groups in Latin America: a worrying sign

Boris Wolf, Global Member Services Coordinator at CI, talks about the atomisation of consumer organisations.

I have been able to have face-to-face meetings with a number of consumer organisations from Argentina, Brazil and Chile last month and would like to share some of the more striking characteristics of the consumer movement in Latin America with readers.

The fact that there are 34 national consumer organisations in Argentina is not seen by CI members as the sign of a healthy consumer movement but rather as a show of weakness which is indicative of a process of atomisation and further loss of relevance of the collective power held by consumers in the face of enduring aggressive corporate practices and government apathy.

What makes the situation of consumer rights uniquely difficult in Argentina is that the Sub-Secretaria dealing with consumer protection is placed under the authority of the Ministry of Trade rather than the Ministry of Justice, as is the case in Brazil.

More generally, members have the feeling that government policies and enforcement actions are not as strong in Argentina as compared to other countries. This has had an impact on both consumer organisations and companies: consumers now routinely turn to consumer organisations for a lot of disputes and problems traditionally ‘outside of their remit’. Equally, companies who once had a relatively good record in attending to consumer claims have stopped paying any attention to them.

On the face of it, the atomisation of the consumer movement is even greater in Chile. More than 70 organisations have official status, from lawyer groups or single-issue groups to groups working at the municipal level. However, there is now a long and sustained history of commitment to working well and transparently with civil society through the support of SERNAC in Chile. There is a similar history of cooperation and trust with Procon-SP in Brazil whose work started in the 80s, long before the existence of the Consumer Code.

But a capacity-building project focused on effective civil society input in regulatory bodies led by IDEC in Brazil has made clear that there is a need for consumer organisations to greatly improve their understanding of the dynamics of government decision-making: regulatory agencies do not have the same relations with consumer groups as they do with consumer affairs departments, for instance.

This is a point that is often missed when it comes to effectively representing the consumer interest by consumer groups.

After the earthquake in Chile

Hubert Linders from the CI Santiago Office talks about the first few minutes.

Early in the morning of Saturday, 27 February 2010, Chile experienced one of the most devastating earthquakes in its history. It was logged as 8.8 on the Richter scale and its epicentre was close to a little town called Cobquecura, in the south of Chile. Just one week before, I had ridden my bike along the coast for a few days, going through the little villages in this region (see photo below). Several of these were hit also by a tsunami and do not exist anymore or are severely damaged, something which still is hard to believe (see photo above).

In Santiago, the earth shook for about one minute and then almost everything went dark. One can see that Chile has a lot of experience with strong seismic movements as only a few tall buildings, mostly recently built, were damaged. Our website shows that consumer associations are already active in helping those affected (in Spanish) while construction companies and property developers keep very silent.

Some old houses, still made with adobe, and churches took the brunt of the damage. But worse was the lack of communication. There was no telephone contact possible, either by landline or mobile phone, for several hours. Just when it was of utmost importance to know where family members, friends or colleagues were and if they were ok, and if not what one could do about it (if anything at all).

I was very lucky to live in an old building that has survived previous earthquakes, so I had access to gas, electricity and water within a few hours. I could even respond to emails of colleagues from the London office I received only a few hours after the news must have travelled around the world. Even though that news could not yet show the scale of the destruction.

On Sunday, the day after the first quake, we colleagues in the CI Santiago office, had all reached each other and were happy to know that, besides some material harm, nothing serious had happened to us. Since then, over 200 aftershocks have taken place, some of them earthquakes in their own right.

Update 30 March 2010: I just went to part of the affected area yesterday and the day before. It is already a lot better now.

Nutrition conference: no unhealthy foods, just unhealthy consumers. Hubert Linders, CI Information Adviser, finds this hard to swallow.

Last week I participated in the most important conference for nutritionists in Latin America to officially launch the PAHO policy statement on reducing salt intake. About 2000 professionals and students were in Santiago to learn about diets, micronutrients, functional foods, food safety, or malnutrition, which not only means that there are people sick or dying because they don't have enough to eat. Increasingly it is used for overweight and obese people who eat too much processed food with high levels of salt, sugar and fat.

According to the industry, there are no good or bad foods, only unhealthy diets and a sedentary life. If that's true, why is fast food offered in huge portions? Or are fruit juices produced with flavours that don’t come close to the taste of the fruit shown on the packaging?

Asking companies, present with samples of their products, they told me ‘this is what the consumer wants.’ I very much doubt that. Does the industry produce what consumers want or do we eat what they offer because there are almost no other options? True, there are products called ‘light’, with less salt and better quality, but why do they always have to be more expensive?

If the industry produces what we want, why spend billions of dollars a year in advertising? On several occasions during the congress I heard that nutritionists have to educate consumers, called ‘patients’, because they don't know the truth. It seems obvious that they do not, simply by the fact that food ‘rich’ in salt, sugars and fats are more and more aggressively marketed in all media including TV, radio, Internet and on billboards, kiosks, schools and sporting or cultural events.

All this marketing is paid for by an industry that would have us believe that it is only our fault that almost all of us suffer from overweight and diseases like hypertension, while they want to ‘hook’ us on salty, sugary and greasy foods as young as possible. That leaves a bad taste in my mouth.