Smoking and drinking alcohol were sometimes mentioned in
the same breath, and that is absolutely unwarranted. Smoking is unhealthy, right from the first cigarette, whereas moderate alcohol drinking is actually good for the health. That is a positive and also a welcome message that we have to get across.
Advice in connection with healthy nutrition too often has a negative complexion. It gives the consumer the impression that anything that tastes nice must be avoided. In recent years our population has had to deal with a succession of food crises that unquestionably have led to a general feeling of suspicion against our basic food. Is the meat really hormone-free? When you eat steak, isn’t there the danger of getting Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease? Can you still buy chickens that don’t contain dioxin? What about the residues of pesticides and other sprays in fruit and vegetables? Is fish still healthy, what with all this mercury and dioxin pollution? Can we still enjoy dairy butter, or must
we switch over to cholesterol-reducing spreads that protect
the heart?
In that negative food climate, a positive message is a breath
of fresh air and we have to emphasise it.
Our objective is to spread the positive message. And, needless to say, our message rests on sound scientific publications.