Leaders in Pharmaceutical Business Intelligence (LPBI) Group

Consuming Risk Free Food & Beverages

Author: Debashree Chakrabarti, MSc., Biological Sciences, UMass Lowell (Expected May 2016)

Leading researchers and medical health professionals have raised their concern about the over all declining status of health and well being world wide. A rising trend in childhood obesity, cardiovascular diseases, clinical depression syndrome in young adults is reason enough to try and broaden the scope of plausible agents which result in people making bad health decisions.  As a witness to the emerging dietary trends adopted by children and young adults, it is natural to question the ethics of processed food and beverages industry. Does it seem reasonable the 2L bottles of soda cost $2 USD? There are more people claiming to not like water since it is flavorless. 100% fresh juices are subject to scrutiny for their lack of adequate fiber content and excess presence of sugars. Products with high fructose corn syrups, added preservatives in processed meat, ‘read to eat’ meals are agreeably cost effective and saves a lot of time, however the over riding damage is in the long run with deficient immune system and gain of unnatural toxins which the body finds hard to eliminate. Another marketing frenzy is visible in the neutraceuticals range of instant energy drinks, protein shakes and over the counter pills. The focus is towards having the visibly attractive, muscular body regardless of the compromised health. The companies do their bit of limiting the usage by adding a precaution statement and dosage remarks on the product labels. This is however not translated as useful information to the young consumers who do not foresee the detrimental outcomes in advance.

As the prices of insurance packages and medical aid is negotiated, the same effort needs invested in the regulation of consumer dietary products. We do not want a ban on Colas however, we do not also need them to be sold at prices cheaper than water. Fresh fruits and vegetables need not be price tagged astronomically driving population to adopt a risk driven lifestyle. Taking initiatives to promote urban farming and local gardens, reaching out to the people about their choices and how it impacts the global financial predicament is a need of the hour. We are ok with the attitude of “Don’t tell me how to live my life” in a world relying heavily on subsidized medicines. This has to change. Subsidized medicine is a privilege and should be benefited to those responsible. Researchers and big pharma companies are not the only stake holders in this fight against an exponentially growing illness of misinformed decisions. People need to be brought in and educated. This includes strong arming anyone who feels they have a right to abuse their health or the health of the world.

Another paradigm to this discussion is the need for more extensive research hubs world wide and making the accessibility of advanced medicines available to the dense population regions in Asia, Africa and Middle East Arab countries which host the majority of the population and have the least of the resources. We need 100 Massachusetts world wide with cutting edge researchers deep diving and venture capitalists backing them up. A vision for 2050 must encompass every individual being aware of what it takes to damage a human body which is a very robust machine. Eating right and being able to afford health must not be difficult. Choices available in the stores must be rational to the level where the most ignorant of the lot is still consuming risk free substances. Given the fantastic evolutionary armaments we have, it takes a lot to be unwell and yet we seem to making it fairly easy to catch cold. Healthy people translate to healthy economy.