{"id":100046,"date":"2013-08-13T00:16:09","date_gmt":"2013-08-12T18:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=100046"},"modified":"2013-08-17T21:15:59","modified_gmt":"2013-08-17T15:45:59","slug":"milkgate-white-does-not-always-imply-purity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/milkgate-white-does-not-always-imply-purity\/","title":{"rendered":"Milkgate: White Does Not Always Imply Purity"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Malinda Seneviratne<\/a><\/span>\u00a0–<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Malinda Seneviratne<\/p><\/div>\n

Watergate is the name given to a political scandal that rocked the United States of America in the early 1970s.\u00a0 It was about a break-in and a cover-up.\u00a0 It led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.\u00a0 The scandal also saw the indictment, trial, conviction and incarceration of 43 persons, dozens of whom were Nixon\u2019s top administration officials.<\/p>\n

The above is from Wikipedia.\u00a0 Wikipedia doesn\u2019t have an entry for \u2018Milkgate\u2019.\u00a0 The only association between \u2018milk\u2019 and \u2018gate\u2019 as of now is \u2018Cow and Gate\u2019 a UK based dairy products company.\u00a0 In the case of the dairy industry, as opposed to Nixonian \u2018intervention\u2019, the only \u2018break-in\u2019 we can talk about is markets. We could, or rather we should, add \u2018breaking through all cautionary safeguards of communities and individuals. And \u2018cover up\u2019 would include lulling into a false sense of security by false and exaggerated claims complemented by deliberate fear-mongering.\u00a0 We could, or rather we should, add \u2018purchase\u2019, i.e. of decision-makers (politicians, clearly), approvers (scientists, doctors and their various clubs) and potential critics (media, for example, through pumping in of advertising and the threat of pulling out ads).<\/p>\n

There is also litigation; a panel discussion on Jana Handa scheduled for tomorrow (August 12, 2013) on the subject of milk powder contamination has been shelved on the advice of lawyers since there was a court case on Fonterra.\u00a0 The topic was milk powder contamination.\u00a0 If that warrants a no-no, then all poisoners, big and small, can pay someone to take them to court; that would be a cheap criticism-blocker.\u00a0 If that was legitimate, then a stop on advertising should be voluntarily imposed by these companies, \u2018because it is in the courts\u2019!\u00a0 These companies usually schedule advertisement for long periods, 3 months, 6 months or even a year.\u00a0 There are big spenders.\u00a0 Having allocated, they can\u2019t withdraw from contractual obligations.\u00a0 The relevant media organization can, in the name of ethics, reimburse. \u00a0Do they? Will they?\u00a0 If not, they would most certainly be less comfortable in carrying news that is to the detrimental to their \u2018friendly\u2019 and \u2018generous\u2019 clients.<\/p>\n

Last week the Government Medical Officers Association advised the Government to ban certain milk powder brands.\u00a0 This was after the Minister of Technology, Research and Atomic Energy, Patali Champika Ranawaka commissioned ITI to test for DCD in milk powder and the results turned up positive in 4 imported brands.\u00a0 The Nation <\/em>applauds both the GMOA and the minister, but wonders why an issue which surfaced towards the end of 2012 did not prompt immediate and decisive action by approving\/screening authorities in the Ministry of Health.<\/p>\n

The Nation <\/em>encountered the issue of contamination in March 2013 during an exercise to assess the adequacy of labeling laws, which again was prompted by concern over unethical advertising.\u00a0 On March 24, we revealed that contaminated milk powder may have entered the local market.\u00a0 The Consumer Affairs Authority promised to investigate.\u00a0 The Ministry of Health expressed concern.\u00a0 We were told that samples would be tested abroad.\u00a0 The report on the tests is still to be made public.<\/p>\n

In April we moved to claims about calcium.\u00a0 Milk powder companies objected; we honored their right of reply and exercised our right to dissect response.\u00a0 We also investigated the health and nutritional claims of milk supplements.<\/p>\n

There were mixed signals from health and consumer protection authorities.\u00a0 Some said a man on milk powder from New Zealand was imminent.\u00a0 Some said \u2018cleared!\u2019\u00a0 We were not convinced.\u00a0 When a qualified nutritionist took issue with some comments made by a representative of the Nutrition Society of Sri Lanka, things got even more complicated. The Nutrition Society responded, but only in part.\u00a0 A set of questions put to the Society by The Nation<\/em> has met with a stony silence.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the issue was taken up by other sections of the media.\u00a0 Interestingly, though, there was surprising reluctance to name names; \u2018surprising\u2019 because names, surnames, addresses, ethnicity and religious faith are routinely tagged to suspects of the pettiest crimes.<\/p>\n

The Ministry of Technology Research and Atomic Energy moved, meanwhile.\u00a0 When the results were out, the milk industry took cover under the test recommended by the Health Ministry, pointing out that ITI had used another method.\u00a0 Nothing was said about the arbitrary nature of the ministry recommendation as well as the setting of \u2018safe levels\u2019.\u00a0 Certificates from governments in countries where the milk powder came from were thrown in our faces by way of defence.<\/p>\n

In the end the Ministry of Health did stand up.\u00a0 We applaud, but only quietly.\u00a0 There are many loopholes, as we pointed out above.\u00a0 Even as we write, we cannot give a guarantee to the consumer that errant companies are not busy channeling milk powder meant for banned brands to back-up brands, we it were.<\/p>\n

Now it is all out in the open.\u00a0 The issue is not banning this or that product.\u00a0 The issue is to set in place stringent screening mechanisms to ensure that all food products are safe for consumption.\u00a0 It is about laws that are able to obtain disclosure on conflict of interest from \u2018experts\u2019, approvers and health and nutrition practitioners and advocates.<\/p>\n

This is a war because we live in a country where it is claimed (in the year 2013, mind you) that the draft National Drug Policy \u2018was misplaced\u2019!\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0This is a war because children are the main target and the most vulnerable.<\/p>\n

If ever this country required an impetus to develop the local dairy industry, this is it.\u00a0 We wouldn\u2019t have to screen important milk powder for contaminants nor wonder whether certifying authorities are above board if we drank our own milk.\u00a0 Fresh.<\/p>\n

*Malinda Seneviratne is the Chief Editor of \u2018The Nation\u2019\u00a0and his articles can be found at\u00a0www.malindawords.blogspot.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":93503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\nMilkgate: White Does Not Always Imply Purity - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/milkgate-white-does-not-always-imply-purity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Milkgate: White Does Not Always Imply Purity - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/milkgate-white-does-not-always-imply-purity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-08-12T18:46:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-08-17T15:45:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Malinda-Seneviratne.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"329\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"367\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/milkgate-white-does-not-always-imply-purity\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/milkgate-white-does-not-always-imply-purity\/\",\"name\":\"Milkgate: White Does Not Always Imply Purity - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/milkgate-white-does-not-always-imply-purity\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/milkgate-white-does-not-always-imply-purity\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Malinda-Seneviratne.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-08-12T18:46:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-08-17T15:45:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/milkgate-white-does-not-always-imply-purity\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/milkgate-white-does-not-always-imply-purity\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/milkgate-white-does-not-always-imply-purity\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Malinda-Seneviratne.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Malinda-Seneviratne.jpg\",\"width\":\"329\",\"height\":\"367\",\"caption\":\"Malinda Seneviratne\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/milkgate-white-does-not-always-imply-purity\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Milkgate: White Does Not Always Imply Purity\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\",\"name\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Milkgate: White Does Not Always Imply Purity - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/milkgate-white-does-not-always-imply-purity\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Milkgate: White Does Not Always Imply Purity - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[…]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/milkgate-white-does-not-always-imply-purity\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2013-08-12T18:46:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-08-17T15:45:59+00:00","og_image":[{"width":329,"height":367,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Malinda-Seneviratne.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/milkgate-white-does-not-always-imply-purity\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/milkgate-white-does-not-always-imply-purity\/","name":"Milkgate: White Does Not Always Imply Purity - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/milkgate-white-does-not-always-imply-purity\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/milkgate-white-does-not-always-imply-purity\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Malinda-Seneviratne.jpg","datePublished":"2013-08-12T18:46:09+00:00","dateModified":"2013-08-17T15:45:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/milkgate-white-does-not-always-imply-purity\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/milkgate-white-does-not-always-imply-purity\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/milkgate-white-does-not-always-imply-purity\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Malinda-Seneviratne.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Malinda-Seneviratne.jpg","width":"329","height":"367","caption":"Malinda Seneviratne"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/milkgate-white-does-not-always-imply-purity\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Milkgate: White Does Not Always Imply Purity"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3","name":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Malinda-Seneviratne.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100046"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100046\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100780,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100046\/revisions\/100780"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}