CONSUMER DECISIONS: Problems and POLICIES
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....,...-CONSUMER DECISIONS: PRoBLEMS AND POLICIES . PUBLISHED BY THE j AGRICULTURAL POLICY INSTITUTE _ NORt H CAROLINA, .aIf.TE UNIVERSITY I, AUGUST, 1965 WHAT BUSINESS CAN DO TO BETTER INFORM AND PROTECT THE CONSUMER Milan Do Smith Executive Vice President National Canners Association Washington, Do C-o When I received your invitation to speak at this meeting, I was very happy to be able to accept, not only on my personal behalf but even more on behalf of the National Canners Association, As I look about this gathering, I can see many of my friends in governm_ent, in education and in busines s, Those here who know me also know that I welcome any opportunity to discuss industry, particu larly the canning industry, and consumer protection and information, Consequently, this has been a welcome assignment, Any recounting of what the canning industry has done and what it continues to do for con sumers could, I believe, be applied to most segments of the industries concerned with the production and marketing of consumer goods, Before I plunge into the various aspects of the consumer movement, and industry! s part and stake in that movement, I would like to mention that the food industry has been considerably in the public eye recently, It is interesting to remember that the ca.nning business has managed to grow and prosper while producing products consistently Iowan the consumer price index, Consumers, and in the food business this means everyone, have enjoyed our products, for canners pack, , , and sell. , , more than 27 billion containers of food every year, This goes hand-in-hand with the American entry into the,"Age of Abundance" mentioned last year by Secretary of Agriculture Freeman, He has said, IiIf American consumers are to get the most out of the Age of Abundance, new programs and new emphasis are needed, II Well, we canners have a half-century record of initiating new programs to improve the quality, acceptability and variety of our products and we are contin ually re-examining our emphasis on emerging consumer groups so that the maximum nurnber of people will be better informed, Mr, Freeman also said that lIProtecting the basic rights and interests of the consumers is a job for all of us--for Government, busi ness, labor, but above all for the consumers themselves. II I entirely -79- agree' with the Secretary, and most heartily on the latter poinL Let me say that we at the National Canners Association have been doing all we can to help the consumers protect themselves, I will demonstrate how we go about this a little farther on in this discussion. Last, he said that the effects of the Age of Abundance are nowhere more evident than in the food economy and he re-emphasized that we eat better, with more variety, and for less real cost than ever before in history, here or anywhere in the world. While our success in producing, proce'ssing and distributing this abundance makes our consumers the envy of the world, this success is no accident. Neither is it inevitable, The American success, in every business whether it be food or hardware, stems from the enterprise and hard work of people who were willing to take risks, invest their capital and their labor~ They were, and are, willing to take these risks because they earnestly believe that if they can produce a marketable product they will earn a fair profit. While this is quite basic, it is equally basic that if the consumer is not satisfied, the product will not succeed and the risk and labor will have been to no avaiL What this really means is that the most successful of our American businesses achieved this success by acting in the best interest of the con sumer. Certainly this is true in the canning industry and our position is an historic one. In the early 1900 1 s, the comparatively young canning indus try was one of the leading advocates of a federal food and drug law. When the National Canners Association was formed in 1907, there was imrnediate cooperation with federal officials to aid in making the food law effective. As a consequence good faith was established early. Convinced that the keystone of a sound and permanent canning industry was scientific research, ours was the first national trade associati.on to establish a laboratory solely for its industry's research and solution of its technical problems. In other words, even then we were concerned with product dependability and con sumer protection. To demonstrate how important this research is to the industry, last year our own laboratories devoted more than 75, 000 man~ hours to various projects. That our programs have the continued faith and respect of the government may be seen by the fact that nine of our research projects were conducted in cooperation with government. For example, one project conducted under contract with the United States Department of Agriculture has as its objective the development of standby procedures to reduce fallout contamination of fruits and vegetables to a . safe leverin the event that this ever becomes necessary. -80- Another major service of the National Canners Associationlabora tories was research concerning the alleged presence of pesticides in the water of the Mississippi Rivero Long before the current national interest in cleaning up our nation's streams, we at NCA have been busy with this very problem as it concerns our own industry and the public 0 We realized years ago that the nation's water supply is a vital asset whose quantity is not unlimited and whose quality must be proteCtedo Water withdrawn from the supply must be returned to rivers, streams and lakes in a condition which does not incon venience the community or others who· use ito Furthermo·re, it must be treated by methods which are compatible with conservation requirements and within realistic production costs 0 Technologically practical and economically feasible methods must be developed and industry, in most cases, must be given the design criteria and operational procedures 0 It cannot be expected that each producer of industrial waste has the trained scientists and the resources necessary for research, and only a united effort can solve these problemso To this end, a three-year research program is under way involving the Water Quality and Water Pollution Control Agencies of the State of California, one of its large cities and the National Canners Association Research Foundation as well as an individual canning firm. When most people ask what industry does to protect the consumer, they think only of the product at the point-of-purchaseo But our industry recognizes that the consumer also needs his natural environment pro tected as well and our research team, coupled with the active support of nearly 600 canners, does its best to provide safeguards for the public today and in the future. It is particularly significant, I believe, that the proj ect which I have just mentioned is a joint efforto It is an outstanding example of how the federal government, a state government, a city administration, a trade association and an individual company can cooperate, in harmony, to pool the best resources of each to work for the common good of the people of this country. Our industry can take considerable pride in the fact that we are among the first to be a part of such a cooperative venture, that it was entirely voluntary and in recognition of; and response to a growing public needo This environmental protection is our industry's first line defense in behalf of the consumer. The. second line of protection for the consumer is our ceaseless effort to develop and disseminate procedures which, if followed, will maintain absolute product safety . -81- Again, the canning industry can chalk-up another "first" in the realm of government-business cooperation for consumer protection, Product safety and consumer protection begins in the fields where can ning crops are grown and in the waters where seafood is taken and con tinues through production and distribution, In the hope of establishing . better teamwork and understanding between the members of this industry and an important government agency, in 1963 I discussed with FDA Com m.issioner of Food and Drugs, George Larrick, that a joint workshop to promote mutual government-industry understanding of problems and programs be held. Mr. Larrick was enthusiastic, and plans for such a workshop were soon under way. With many food industry personnel in attendance, the FDA's food research program was explained, including examples of research projects concerning methodology, pharmacology and toxicology problems. These were related to changes infood technology, the history of food standards, field studies on foods subject to standardization and food additives. While law enforcement is, and should be, Food and Drug Administration's pri mary responsibility, its personnel welcomed the opportunity to assist industry through their Division of Advisory Opinions and Industry Infor mation Branch. The entire workshop clearly demonstrated the great value in voluntary compliance and provided an opportunity for our industry to see the other side of the story in the FDA's administration of difficult and complicated federal law. But most important, all of us feel, was the establishment of a real rapport between our own technologists and their counterparts in the government agencies. Armed with greater understanding, our own industry people in can neries throughout the nation can perform their tasks with assurance that they are in compliance. Doubly armed with the NCA laboratory-developed technology, our people can continue to maintain the long record of safety already established by the canned food producers in the United States which already stands as a tribute to the work of these scientists, growers and processors.