People for Ethical Treatment of Animals come out with strange ideas: want pictorial health warning on meat, poultry and dairy products

Syed Akbar
Hyderabad: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
has urged the Centre to introduce pictorial health warning on meat,
poultry and other animal products.

Some of the pictorial health warnings suggested by PETA are “Eating
meat can cause heart disease, strokes, diabetes and cancer” (with the picture of a
man pressing hands against the chest for relief from heart pain),
“meat consumption may cause premature death” (picture showing a patient on hospital bed with oxygen mask),
“drinking cow’s milk may cause juvenile diabetes” (a girl with
diabetes complications), and “egg consumption can cause heart disease”
(picture of the chest open with heart exposed).

Just in time for World Health Day on April 7, PETA India staff
nutritionist Bhuvaneshwari Gupta sent a letter to Union Health and
Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad urging the ministry to
require the same kinds of graphic health warnings on packages of meat,
eggs and dairy products as the ones that are on packs of cigarettes.

The group has created sample warning labels with a stark but
compelling message about the alleged health dangers of meat
consumption and has sent them to the Health Ministry for consideration.

"Meat-, egg- and dairy-laden diets are linked to needlessly early
deaths", Gupta alleged.  "A mountain of studies links the consumption
of animal products to India's leading killers, including heart
disease, cancer, diabetes, stroke and obesity, she claims.

The World Health Day would be the perfect time for the Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare to decide to encourage citizens to go vegan
to live longer, healthier lives by adopting this life-saving project,
Gupta argues.