Astra Magarine - NOT GOOD FOR CHILDREN???? (extracted data)

Court upholds Astra Margarine Harmful to kids under 3 years

 

(Colombo Lankapuvath) Kahatagasdigiliya Magistrate today ordered the manufacturers of Astra margarine to specify in their margarine packets that Astra margarine is harmful to children under three years of age.
The court informed that E-319 substance in Astra margarine effected the growth of children under three years.
Court also stated that despite the heath ministry directing the manufacturers of the said product to state that warning on the Astra margarine packet labels, the manufacturers have continued to ignore the directive issued by the Ministry. (read all scientific data)

The court order follows a case filed by Anuradhapura PHI bringing to the notice of court this lapse of the Astra margarine manufacturers.

http://www.lankapuvath.lk/index.php/home/behind-the-curtain/behind-the-curtain-2/16298-court-upholds-astra-margerine-harmful-to-kids-under-3-years 

Astra Margarine harmful to kids PHIs to check warning labels

  
(Colombo Lankapuvath) Following a court order that the marketers of Astra Margarine have evaded displaying the warning label on the product stating the content was harmful to the health of kids under three years,the Health Ministry has ordered the Public Health Inspectors countrywide to check all Astra Margarine packs in the market, Health Ministry sources said.
The Kahatagasdigiliya Magistrate on receipt of a complaint by the Public Health Inspectors in the region asserted that the substance E-319 in the product was harmful to growth of kids under three years.

Court was informed that the Health Ministry has issued such warning to be displayed on the product by way of an Act and the marketers of the said product conveniently ignored the  ministry directive.

Sources said the Health Ministry has sought the assistance of the Consumer Affairs Authority to conduct raids on super markets where the said product was moving fast among all classes of people.

http://www.lankapuvath.lk/index.php/home/behind-the-curtain/behind-the-curtain-2/16307-astra-margarine-harmful-to-kids-phis-to-check-warning-labels 

Astra Margarine: PHI Association Throws challenge on Unilever....

  
 (Colombo-Lankapuvath) The Public Health Inspectors Association under the Ministry of Health today threw a challenge at Unilever Limited to deny  their (Unilever) ignorance of the provisions of the Food Act in effect with necessary amendments to time to time.
This follows a statement by Unilever Ltd, on Friday that they were not informed by the Health Ministry on regulations with regard to carry a warning label on Astra Margarine which the statute specifies is harmful to children under 3 years.

The Association said the Unilever statement claimed it did not target infants or children. “If that position is true how come they carry electronic advertisements on Television where children are demanding Astra Margarine from their mothers as the theme of the advertisements states Astra is nutritious for children, the Association queried.

Meanwhile, Health Ministry sources disclosed that Health Minister Maithreepala Sirisena has expressed grave concern over this issue as the Kahatagasdgiliya Court was informed by a Public Health Inspector that the substance E-319 in the Astra Margarine was harmful to the growth of kids under 3 years.In leading western countries,E-319,an antioxidant is not permitted for use in food items,medical specialists claimed.

Court ordered the manufacturer of Astra Margarine to carry the warning label on the Astra Margarine products.

The Public Health Inspectors Association Secretary, Senarath Bandara refuted the claim by the Unilever Ltd, that neither the Health Ministry nor any other authority have given instructions or directions to them to carry out a warning on the product Astra Margarine.

Speaking to Lankapuvath, The Public Health Association Secretary, SenarathBandara ,said the Food Security Act is formed by a Committee comprising 30 members including the Director General of Health Services. Accordingly, certain amendments are introduced from time to time and they are gazetted, he noted.

To claim no knowledge of the rules and regulations of Food Security Act is not an excuse but ignorance , he emphasized.

http://www.lankapuvath.lk/index.php/home/behind-the-curtain/behind-the-curtain-2/16344-astra-margarine-phi-association-throws-challenge-on-unilever 

Astra crisis: Dr.Anil Samaranayake of MRI clarifies view point on E-319 antioxidant

  
 (Colombo Lankapuvath) Dr.Anil Samaranayake of the Medical Research Institute (MRI) yesterday stated that the substance E-319,an antioxidant in food items was harmful to the health of kids as it caused brain hyperactivity.He maintained that he only explained the danger of the toxic substance and did not refer to any food product or Astra Margarine when speaking to Lankapuvath earlier on the report titled -MRI says E-319 in Astra Margarine cause brain hyperactivity in kids-.The issue of Astra Margarine containing E-319 toxic substance transpired in a case at Kahatagasdigiliya court last week when the complainant Public Health Inspector told court that an Astra Margarine distributor was marketing that product which contained E-319 substance without the warning label as it was harmful to kids under three years.
The Magistrate directed the producers of Astra Margarine to carry the warning label on their products.

E-319 antioxidant substance is banned in western countries in the manufacture of food items as it causes kidney and neural complications irrespective of age.
http://www.lankapuvath.lk/index.php/home/behind-the-curtain/104-behind-the-curtain/16403-astra-controversy-dranil-samaranayake-of-mri-clarifies-view-point-on-e-319-antioxidant 
Uni-Lever says...
 (Colombo Lankapuvath) Referring to the above ‘Top Story’-‘Astra Margarine harmful to kids’ manufacturers of Astra Margarine Uni-Lever Ltd, states that neither the Health Ministry nor any other regulations have given instructions or directions to them to carry out a warning on the product Astra Margarine.
It further states that their brand Astra does not target infants or young children as target consumers as a company which has being in ethical business in the country for over 75 years  conforming to all local legislation and had not misled the consumers. This response via email was sent to Lankapuvath by Rohith Hettiarachchi, Communication Channel Manager.
Editor’s note
Our ‘Top Story’ was based on the Kahatagasdigiliya Magistrate courts proceedings and the subsequent directions sent out by the Health Ministry on the issue in the interest of consumers. The contents were based on factual official sources which neither the Magistrate court nor the Health Ministry have refuted.










References:

1. Fats and oils: formulating and processing for applications, Richard D. O'Brien, page 168
2. Tert-BUTYLHYDROQUINONE (TBHQ), International Programme on Chemical Safety
3. Opinion of the Scientific Panel on food additives, flavourings, processing aids and materials in contact with food (AFC) on a request from the Commission related to tertiary-Butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), European Food Safety Authority, 12 July 2004
4. 21 C.F.R. § 172.185  Tert-Butylhydroquinone - safety summary from The International Programme on Chemical Safety
5. Gharavi N, El-Kadi A (2005). "tert-Butylhydroquinone is a novel aryl hydrocarbon receptor ligand". Drug Metab Dispos 33 (3): 365–72. doi:10.1124/dmd.104.002253. PMID 15608132.
6. Hirose, Masao et al.; Yada, Hideaki; Hakoi, Kazuo; Takahashi, Satoru; Ito, Nobuyuki. "Modification of carcinogenesis by -tocopherol, t-butylhydro-quinone, propyl gallate and butylated hydroxytoluene in a rat multi-organ carcinogenesis model". Carcinogenesis (Oxford University Press) 14 (1): 2359–2364. doi:10.1093/carcin/14.11.2359. PMID 8242867. Retrieved 2 Februally 2010.
7. Hirose M, Takahashi S, Ogawa K, Futakuchi M, Shirai T, Shibutani M, Uneyama C, Toyoda K, Iwata H (1999). "Chemoprevention of heterocyclic amine-induced carcinogenesis by phenolic compounds in rats". Cancer Lett 143 (2): 173–8. doi:10.1016/S0304-3835(99)00120-2. PMID 10503899.
8. Vanesch, G (1986). "Toxicology of tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ)". Food and Chemical Toxicology 24 (10-11): 1063. doi:10.1016/0278-6915(86)90289-9. PMID 3542758.

What is Unilever?
• The 19^thC saw an increased use of ‘treaties’ and ‘divide and rule’ policies in whichCatholic and Protestant missionaries played a key role. In the 18^thC, Birmingham gunshad been exchanged for humans, and it was commonly noted that ‘the price of one Negro was one Birmingham gun.’ 150,000 guns were exported annually from Birmingham! The English government, the East India Co. (EIC) and Africa were the chief customers. In the 19^thC: Birmingham guns were also exchanged for palm oil (and led to the growth of Unilever!)

1869: • Napoleon III contest – inviting inventors to submit recipes and samples "for a cheap source of nutritional fat to feed the ‘cheap’ classes of people in his country: the army, navy, and the poor" – was won by Professor Hippolyte Mege-Mouris whose patent for margarineinvolved mixing processed beef tallow with skimmed milk, and resulted in a cheap but qualitatively good substitute for butter “for the working class and incidentally the Navy.” 1871: Mège sold his invention to the Dutch firm Jurgens (linked to the Unilever Corp), who made margarines from the "cheapest and most inferior" seed oils: cotton seed, rape and corn.



1870: • James Finlay & Co's Finlay Clerk & Co of Bombay renamed Finlay Muir & Co and opened branch in Calcutta. Finlay Muir & Co. also opened branches in Karachi and Chittagong, and James Finlay & Co. branches in London and Liverpool. James Finlay (later owned by plantation multinational Unilever) grew in India using profits from opium, tea and Scottish cotton mills. 1873: James Finlay began manufacturing jute. 1878: James Finlay & Co. interest in Clan Line steamships, expanded exports of opium, tea and jute from India. 1882: James Finlay & Co moved into tea estate management. 1890s: Burmah Oil Co. taken over by James Finlay and Co. 1893: (Linked to James Finlay & Co.), Finlay Muir & Co. branch in Colombo set up, buying up large blocks of land for tea 1900: Controlled large acreage of tea plantations in India. 1900s: Cotton textiles. Set up distribution, packaging and warehousing in England, US, Canada and Russia.



1871: • Professor Hippolyte Mege-Mouris’ patent invention of margarine sold to the Dutch firm Jurgens (linked to the Unilever Corp), who made margarines from the "cheapest and most inferior" seed oils: cotton seed, rape and corn.



1872; • Netherland merchants Jurgens and Van den Bergh opened first factories to producemargarine from African produce (later, Unilever).



1876; • The agency houses started off “as purveyors of capital to the coffee plantations,” but with the growth of the tea & rubber industries, agencies would soon control the plantation companies. When money was advanced to the estates, the produce was assigned to the agent. The agent also took orders for estate requirements and expanded his import business. In the financing and sale of export produce, he became a local representative of banks, investment trusts, and shipping companies. Bois Bros. was an agent for Chartered Bank of India, Australia & China. Darley Butler was agent of Matheson Co.; George Steuart, for Messrs. Coutts & Co. Most mercantile companies made huge profits in import of plantation-industry-related materials e.g. fertilizer, packaging, tea chests, tools & machinery, building materials, foods & household goods. James Finlay & Co. (later owned by Unilever) controlled valuable land on road around Colombo Lake leading to sea; involved in shipping & warehousing. Delmege Forsythe (supporters of US slave south) controlled sale & distribution of Cadbury Chocolate, Clark’s thread, & trade in petroleum products.



1877: • English pirate George Goldie appeared with gunboats on Niger River to set up laterUnilever corporate empire. 1879: Goldie merged English traders into his monopoly company, and deprived access to both France and Germany.



1879: • George Taubman Goldie trying to combine all English 'commercial interests' on the lower and middle Niger River, set up United African Co. 1881: Goldie failed to obtain charter from Gladstone's English government. 1884: French traders on the lower Niger bought out by Goldie's United African Co. 1885: Goldie of United African Co. claimed over 400 political treaties with the chiefs of the lower Niger and the Hausa states at Berlin Conference on West Africa. 1929: The United Africa Co. set up with the merger of the Royal Niger Co. and the African & Eastern Trade Corporation to mainly trade in West Africa. E1930s: Taken over by Unilever.





1884: • Lever & Co. started production of Sunlight soap using African produce. (see Unilever)





• At the Berlin Conference on West Africa: George Taubman Goldie of United African Co. claimed that on the lower Niger, only the English flag flew, with the Niger coast placed under English 'protection.' Goldie claimed over 400 political treaties with the chiefs of the lower Niger and the Hausa states. 1886: English government granted charter to the National African Co. (Royal Niger Co.) 1929: United Africa Co. set up with merger of the Royal Niger Co. and African & Eastern Trade Corporation to mainly trade in West Africa. E1930s: Taken over by Unilever.



1886: • After the Berlin Conference accepted George Taubman Goldie of United African Co.’s claim to the Niger River, he chartered the Royal Niger Co. (later bought by Unilever), and declared it the government of the region. Natives of the delta had to pay custom duties and obtain trade licenses from him. He had actual control of ~5 miles inland. • English government granted charter to the National African Co. (Royal Niger Co.) with Lord Aberdare as governor and George Taubman Goldie of United African Co. as vice-governor. 1900: Royal Niger Co. transferred territories to the English Government. Northern and southern Nigeria set up. E1930s: United Africa Co. taken over by Unilever.



1887; • Lever’s made 450 tons of Sunlight soap a week, using African produce. William Lever set up Port Sunlight – a large factory on the banks of the Mersey opposite Liverpool, with a village for workers.



1888: • Jurgens and Van den Bergh built factories for margarine (from African produce) to enter the prosperous German market (see Unilever)

• Captain Will Wiseman of HMS Caroline annexed Kiritimati (Christmas Island) to England despite US protest, leasing it (1902) to Lever's Pacific Plantations Ltd. for 99 years.

• Technological changes in palm oil manufacture caused shift from non-edible to edible uses: Soap candles and lard from cheaper subsititues, and palm oil increasingly for edible oils and fats! • Growth of multinational corporation Unilever is dated from now: 1872: Netherland merchants Jurgens and Van den Bergh opened first factories to produce margarine from African produce. 1884: Lever & Co. started production of Sunlight soap using African produce. 1887: Lever’s made 450 tons of Sunlight soap a week. William Lever set up Port Sunlight – a large factory on the banks of the Mersey opposite Liverpool, with a village for workers. 1888: Jurgens and Van den Bergh built factories to enter the prosperous German market. 1890: Lever & Co. became a limited co. – Lever Brothers Ltd. 1894: Lever madeLifebuoy Soap, became a public company. 1920: Lever Bros took control of Niger Co. (soon part of United Africa Co). 1927: Dutch companies united in the cartel, Margarine Unie, the Margarine Union. 1929: Lever Bros and Margarine Unie created Unilever, with name changed to Unilever Limited and Unilever NV.



1890: • Grocery chain owner Thomas Lipton visited Lanka and Australia. He met tea plantation owner James Taylor. Lipton opened office in Colombo after buying large block of major estates owned by RG Downall. ("He stuck a little too long for coffee, and not quite long enough for tea.") – In England, Lever & Co. became a limited company – Lever Brothers Ltd. (see Unilever).



1893; • Linked to James Finlay & Co., Finlay Muir & Co. branch in Colombo set up, buying up large blocks of land for tea (and then rubber), and took over Clan Line Steamer Agency from Aitken Spence. James Finlay & Co. (later owned by Unilever) controlled valuable land on road around Colombo Lake leading to sea; involved in shipping & warehousing. 1895: Alexander Fairlie became Finlay Muir & Co. manager, 1895-1912. 1896: Finlay Muir & Co.(linked to James Finlay & Co.) set up Consolidated Tea and Lands Co. 1897: Set up Mahawale Rubber & Tea Co. in Ceylon, and Kanan Devan Hills Produce Co. in Travancore and Assam. 1898: Set up Anglo-American Direct Tea Co. 1900s: James Finlay moved into cotton textiles. Set up distribution, packaging and warehousing in England, US, Canada and Russia. 1900: Controlled large acreage of tea plantations in India. 1905: Finlay Muir & Co.(linked to James Finlay & Co.) set up Pelmadulla Rubber Co. 1906: Finlay's manager Alexander Fairlie became Chairman of Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. 1908: Opata Tea and Rubber Co. set up.



1894: • Lever made Lifebuoy Soap, and became a public company. (see Unilever).



1895:

• Nembe of Ilajeland nationality in Nigeria fought Royal Niger Co. (see, Unilever), after palm oil dispute. Men extracted the palm oil, women took it to depot. English officials stole the oil, and raped the women. Nembe attacked Bekekiri depot’s files and drums, believing that “the papyrus and the pen was responsible.” And did not attack even one European. Company had English naval gunboats invade the Nembe. 4,000 mainly women and children were slaughtered. England then levied duties to monopolize palm kernels and oil in West Africa, prevent exports outside Empire, and prevent crushing local industries.

1896: • Dow Jones Industrial Average first published by American journalist Charles Dow as a stock market index representing average 12 stocks of various US industries – General Electric Co., American Cotton Oil Co. (later Bestfoods, now with Unilever), American Sugar Co. (now Domino Foods, Inc.), American Tobacco Co., Chicago Gas Co. (1897: Peoples Gas Light, now part of Integrys Energy Group), Distilling & Cattle Feeding Co. ( now LyondellBasell's Millennium Chemicals), Laclede Gas Co. (Laclede Group), National Lead Co. (now NL Industries), North American Co. (Electric utility holding company), Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Co. (bought by US Steel, 1907), U.S. Leather Co. (dissolved) and United States Rubber Co. (later Uniroyal (1961), merged with B.F. Goodrich (1986), bought by Michelin, 1990).



1900: 1650-1900, whereas Europe’s population went from 103 to 423 million, and Asia’s 257-857 million, Africa’s population went from 100mn to a mere 120 million in 350 years. From Slave Trade and world looting arose great European and English banks and corporations of Barclays, Barings, Lloyds, Unilever (which runs Lanka) etc.

• “The Unilever Margarine Trust of Britain” combined palm and other plantations for oil seed, dairy farms, whale-hunting companies, numerous margarine, soap and glycerine factories, as well as factories for conversion of by-products; also owning transport for raw materials, finished products and commercial companies.



• Rivaled by 'protectorates' of France and Germany, George Taubman Goldie’s Royal Niger Co. transferred its territories to the English Government for £865,000, and with the small Niger Coast Protectorate, two 'protectorates' of northern and southern Nigeria set up. The chartered mercantile Royal Niger Co. is claimed by the English as basis of the modern Nigeria. 1920: Royal Niger Co. taken over by Lever Brothers.



1906:  Lever Brothers owner William Lever, supporter of William Gladstone's Liberal Party, made a Member of Parliament for Wirral constituency, 1906-1909. (1913: Lever Brother's owner William Lever's house destroyed by suffragette Edith Rigby)

1909: • London and Rhodesian Mining Co. Ltd. (later Lonrho plc, then Lonmin plc) set up. (1968: Lonrho took over Ashanti Goldfields Corporation's gold mining business in Ghana. 1969: Lonhro bought John Holt. 1972: Former Conservative minister Duncan Sandys, a director of Ashanti, became Lonrho's chairman. 1975: Lonhro bought part of Balfour Williamson. 1978: African-based Lonrho and Unilever's UAC were the largest trading companies, followed by East and Southeast Asian traders Jardine-Matheson, Swire's, Inchcape, Guthries and Harrison & Crossfield. 1981: Bought London Sunday newspaper, The Observer. 1986: Launched daily, Today. 1987: Sold Today to News International. 1993: Guardian Media Group bought Observer. 1998: Assets of Lonrho demerged, to set up two publicly listed companies, Lonrho plc (retaining all the non-African businesses and mining assets ) and Lonrho Africa plc set up. 1999: Lonrho plc renamed as Lonmin plc. Lonmin produces platinum group metals in the Bushveld Complex in South Africa, and 2 multi-shaft mining operations in Marikana and Limpopo).

1911: • Lever Brother's owner William Lever in Belgian Congo negotiated travail force (forced labor) for palm oil plantations. (A supporter of William Gladstone's Liberal Party, Lever had been made a Member of Parliament for Wirral constituency, 1906-1909. 1913: Lever Brother's owner William Lever's house destroyed by suffragette Edith Rigby).



1913; • Lever Brother's (later, Unilever) owner William Lever's house destroyed by suffragette Edith Rigby.



1917: • Queen made (Lever Brother's owner) William Lever: Baron Leverhulme. 1925: Leverhulme Trust research group in London, England set up 1925 after his death, endowing it with shares in Lever Brothers (later, Unilever).



1920s:  Some Dutch and English capital pools merged into one of the largest multinationals in the world: Unilever. It was divided, to avoid taxation, into Unilever Ltd. (England) and Unilever N.V. (Holland). To rob Africa, German capital would join Unilever, whose origins lie in theNiger Co. in Nigeria, and those companies which, starting with the slave trade, had derived their capital from exploiting the produce of peasants, such as Levers (1885), which began its trade stealing palm oil from West Africa, and trading guns to the slaving warlords there. Unilever controlled Sri Lanka’s plantation economy.



1920: • George Taubman Goldie's Royal Niger Co. taken over by Lever Brothers. 1929: The United Africa Co. set up by merger of the Royal Niger Co. and the African & Eastern Trade Corporation. 1930s: Taken over by Unilever.



1927: • Dutch companies united in the cartel, Margarine Unie, the Margarine Union (seeUnilever).





1929: • Lever Bros and Margarine Unie set up Unilever, with name changed to Unilever Limited and Unilever NV. • The United Africa Co. set up with the merger of Lever Brothers’s Royal Niger Co. and the African & Eastern Trade Corporation to mainly trade in West Africa. (E1930s: Almost bankrupt United Africa Co. taken over by Unilever. 1956: Unilever introducedWisk, first US liquid detergent. 1987: United Africa Co. absorbed by Unilever. • African-based Lonrho and Unilever's United Africa Co. (UAC) were the largest trading companies, followed by East and Southeast Asian traders Jardine-Matheson, Swire's, Inchcape, Guthries and Harrison & Crossfield).





1978: African-based Lonrho and Unilever's United Africa Company (UAC) were the largest trading companies, followed by East and Southeast Asian opium traders Jardine-Matheson, Swire's, Inchcape, Guthries and Harrison & Crossfield. 2000: Percy Weatherall, great grandson of Henry Keswick, made Managing Director of opium dealer Jardine Matheson Group, 2000-2006. 2005: Ben Keswick, son of Simon, became chief executive officer of Jardine Pacific, and is a director of Jardine Matheson Ltd, Cycle & Carriage Bintang and MCL Land; and a commissioner of Astra and United Tractors. 2007: Adam Keswick, son of Chips, linked to N M Rothschild & Sons, became chief executive of Jardine Pacific and of Jardine Motors, and is a director of opium dealer Jardine Matheson Ltd).



1997: • International Chemical Industries (ICI)   Bought National Starch & Chemical – specialty chemicals business of Unilever.

2002: Nobel Enterprises sold to Japan's Inabata Co., and specialises in nitrogen-based propellants and explosives,and nitrocellulose-based products such as varnishes and inks.

2008: ICI bought by Dutch chemicals group Akzo Nobel. ICI is one of the largest chemical producers in the world, producing paints and specialities such as ingredients for foods, specialty polymers, electronic materials, fragrances and flavours).

2011: Astra Fat Spread, a margarine product from Unilever which contains E319, was banned for use in children under 3 years by a judge in Sri Lanka.