Horsemeat scandal was a wake-up call over supermarkets

LIKE many others, I have been concerned about the effect that the supermarkets have had on our everyday lives for some time now.

I sympathise with the frail elderly who totter up and down the aisles seeking for single items. Not everyone has the ability to use a computer to place their order to have it delivered and this group of people are particularly disadvantaged.

I remember when as a child my mother walked me up the street to ‘The Thrift’ where she bought her weekly groceries. A young pleasant woman served us and she always opened the flip lids on the biscuit tins which were in a stand in front of the counter and invited me to choose my favourite. A nice personal touch.

Later in my early married years, I had my weekly order delivered by a small family grocer’s who at Christmas included a small gift for the children. A very nice gesture from someone who knew all his customers. Now the roads are crowded with people driving to the supermarket and on Bank Holidays these locations are oversubscribed and this leads to many traffic problems.

It was therefore that I read with interest about the horsemeat debacle. Could this be the fall of the mighty or at least an awakening to the fact that small is more efficient?

The supermarkets are first and foremost profit driven and this has led to the present situation. They have opened many different sections – clothing, chemists, fresh fruit and veg, even banking. So many small businesses have been closed down and soon there will be none left which many will regret. I feel rather like a battery hen when I walk into a supermarket and I feel that it is time that they had their wings clipped.We are deprived of shopping locally and meeting up with our neighbours for a chat. The opportunity to exchange news about what is happening in our community including any problems that may arise is lost. Many people do not even know the people who live next door or across the road.

Well that is the end of my rant, I don’t suppose that it will make much difference but I dread to think of the day when we might be “hatched”, “matched” and “dispatched” by these mighty establishments.

From: Linda McAvan MEP (Lab), High Street, Wath-upon-Dearne.

A NEW law has come into force 
in the UK which bans animals from being used in cosmetic testing. This ban is one of many examples showing the advantages of passing some laws at a European level, given that cosmetics are sold across borders so common standards have to be agreed.

The EU Cosmetics Directive came about largely thanks to public pressure from European citizens, particularly people here in the UK.

I supported this legislation when we first agreed it back in 2003, and since then Labour MEPs have campaigned for it to be implemented fully and on time.

A so-called “testing ban” on cosmetics has been in place in Europe now for several years, but there were loopholes when it came to cosmetics which had been tested on animals elsewhere in the world and then imported.

As of this month, these loopholes have now been 
closed. I believe “necessity is 
the mother of invention” and 
now that cosmetics 
companies are forced to look for alternatives to animal testing, they will find them.

We have thousands of 
cosmetic products on the 
market which are not tested 
on animals and companies have had years to adapt to these changes.

The EU’s strong stance will now send a strong signal to other countries like the USA and Japan which do not yet have similar legislation.

It will force the cosmetics industry worldwide to choose between phasing out animal tests, or else losing access to its biggest market.

Next time you buy cosmetics in the EU, you can be reassured that they have not been tested on animals.