Safe drugs and food the world over

Most of you know that your subscriptions and donations fund Consumers Union and our work in the U.S. They enable us to buy the things we test, publish the reports, and push for laws and standards to make the marketplace fairer and safer for American consumers. But our investment, and yours, goes far beyond this country's borders.

We work closely, actively, and proudly as a member of Consumers International, a federation of consumer groups from 115 countries. CI is a unifying voice for guarding the rights of all of us, including the poorest consumers struggling with the most basic needs. Among them:

Safer medications. While Consumers Union lobbies in this country for better disclosure of drug-trial results and a toll-free number on every TV drug ad, CI is lobbying in Europe, where direct-to-consumer drug ads are banned, to keep them off the air. (Only the U.S. and New Zealand allow prescription drugs to be peddled directly to consumers.) CI's head of campaigns, Justin MacMullan, noted this year that "prescription drugs are not washing powders and should not be sold as such."

In Central America, consumer groups are fighting an equally tough battle. A new study of medications in five countries in the region found critical information—active ingredients, side effects, and indications and contraindications for use—missing from drug labels.

Pakistan's key consumer advocacy group has teamed with physicians to expose irresponsible marketing by the drug industry. Doctors are being wooed by drugmakers with offers of cars, refrigerators, and even domestic animals.

Better food. This year saw the largest beef recall in U.S. history, raising awareness of problems we've been tracking for years. Consumers Union is pushing the federal government for more-stringent food inspections and advocating for clear labeling of products that come from cloned animals and milk that comes from dairy cows treated with synthetic growth hormone.

CI's citizen-activist groups in Mexico, Peru, Russia, and Uganda are confronting the growing problem of marketing junk food to children. Recognizing the health and economic consequences of a lousy diet, some groups are lobbying for strict limits on advertising to kids.

CI is also working with 18 governments to introduce new safety standards and hygiene training for vendors of street food, which is a main food source for urban people in poor countries. It's also a primary source of foodborne illness. In Ghana, people spend an estimated 40 percent of their household budget on street food.

Around the world, CI works with the belief that any debate about poverty, development, and trade must include access for the poorest consumers to information, legal protection, and safety regulation.