“Misleading ads” tops consumer complaints in 2018

เขียนโดย มูลนิธิเพื่อผู้บริโภค (มพบ.). จำนวนผู้ชม: 1481

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24 January 2019

Foundation for Consumers and seven provincial consumer groups received 4,545 complaints in 2018.

 In its annual complaint report yesterday, the foundation said food, drugs and health products topped the list, with 1,505 cases (33.11%). This is followed by 930 complaints on public services (20.46%) and 705 complaints on health and public health services (15.51%).

Among the complaints related to the food, drugs, and health products category, misleading advertisements were the most common problem with 372 complaint cases. These ads which were mostly on health products and food supplements were published on both social and mainstream media, especially local radios and cable TVs. Some cases involved illness or injuries from the use of whitening or slimming products

Among the 930 complaints under the public services, land transport saw the highest number of complaints with cases related to compensation for victims of road accidents involving public buses.   Another common cases involved drivers with inappropriate behaviors (being rude to passengers, smoking/talking on the phone while driving, and driving dangerously, etc.). The types of vehicles with most complaints are vans (313 cases), coaches (217 cases), school buses (130 cases), and inter-provincial buses (117 cases).    

For health and public health services, the foundation received a lot of questions about the rights and benefits under different health coverage schemes. Most complaints came from consumers under the universal health coverage scheme. Some of them were not getting the full benefits or faced inconvenience while trying to exercise their rights. Some were asked to pay for the medical fee upfront even though the case was eligible for the emergency fund. The foundation urges the government to put more effort in educating consumers with information on different schemes and make sure that everyone receives quality medical service without having to go through too much trouble.

 
Source: https://consumerthai.org/news-consumerthai/ffc-news/4302-620124comsumerstat.html

 

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Test finds heavy metal in samples of seaweed snacks

เขียนโดย มูลนิธิเพื่อผู้บริโภค (มพบ.). จำนวนผู้ชม: 2252

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18 January 2019

Bangkok - Tests by Foundation for Consumers found lead in 11 out of 13 samples of popular seaweed snacks. One sample was also found with cadmium content exceeding FDA’s standards.

Chaladsue Test Center, a unit of Foundation for Consumers, collected 13 samples (12 brands) of seaweed snacks from supermarkets and souvenir shops between November and December 2018 and sent them to a certified lab to test for lead and cadmium.

Ms. Monrudee Po-in, the foundation’s food expert, said two of the samples were free of the heavy metals: M&K seaweed snack (original flavour) and GinJung seaweed (original flavour). The rest of the samples contained traces of lead, although not in the amount exceeding Thai Community Products Standards or the standard set out by the Ministry of Public Health.

Cadmium was also found in all the samples, with one product – Akinori – containing 2.34 mg/kg, exceeding FDA standard of 2 mg/kg. However, all products failed the cadmium contamination standard of 0.2 mg/kg of the Thai Community Products Standards.

Beside lead and cadmium, consumers should also pay attention to the amount of sodium they consume. According to the information on the labels of these snacks, they can contain up to 2,400 milligrams of sodium per package while WHO’s recommendation for maximum daily consumption of sodium is 2,000 mg.

According to Monrudee, TaoKaeNoi Fried Seaweed (classic flavour) was found with the lowest amount of sodium – 468mg/100g while the product with the highest amount of sodium was Panda Seaweed (spicy flavour), containing 9,230 mg/100g.

Ms. Saree Aongsomwang, secretary general of Foundation for Consumers, called on the FDA to raise its standards, which control both producers and importers, to be as high as Thai Community Product Standards in order to prevent consumption of heavy metals. She also urged consumers to look for the amount of sodium on the package to avoid over consumption.  

 
Source: https://consumerthai.org/news-consumerthai/consumers-news/food-and-drug/4295-620118seaweed.html
Read More: https://www.chaladsue.com/article/3026

 

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