Harmless as this question seems, the answer didn’t seem simple when a packed audience gathered to discuss the topic recently. It was a sort of beer summit, not the sort where men cackle and laugh in beer parlours but a sober one. Unlike revelers, the patrons in this case were egg heads from scientist, professionals, nutritionists, entertainers, to media professionals. Everything else was present but a bottle of beer.
Interestingly, the place of rendezvous where the talk shop tagged: ‘‘Beer and Health, Beer and Life Style’ held was at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos. Of course, the sponsor of the event was the brewery giant, Nigerian Breweries.
But this article is not about the propriety or otherwise of the summit but about the outcome.
Exactly 10 days after the beer symposium by the NB Plc, a press release from the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) with the screaming headline ‘‘CPC investigates NB over alleged health benefit claims of beer consumption,’ soon flooded the media space.
The Council gave the NB 14 day ultimatum to substantiate the claims it made about the numerous benefits of beer as espoused in the summit.
CPC hinged its argument on the fact that such claims were capable of luring unsuspecting consumers into unwholesome consumption of beer.
Besides, the Consumer protector also stated that NB’s claims that beer is not an alcoholic beverage and that if taken regularly and in moderation has many defined nutritional and health benefits and can indeed be part of a healthy life style was flawed.
However, after a careful perusal of the press statement, I flashed back to what happened not too long ago between the CPC and Nigerian Bottling Company [NBC]. When I say what happened, I mean both the published and unpublished intrigues that transpired between the two bodies.
As one who has followed similar scenarios in the past, I wager it would be a disservice to the reading public if I chose to stand on the fence on this my decision to offer in my estimation is a modest submission.
I have covered three symposia where I had the privilege of joining over 200 people who attended the beer academy where everything about beer from the raw ingredients to the finished products in the drinking glass was exposed to the participants.
On the other hand, courtesy, of my beat, which is Consumer Affairs, I work closely with CPC, NAFDAC, MAN and other relevant government agencies. I also work with manufacturers, service providers, retailers and relate closely with consumers most of whom do not hesitate to react to issues on this page.
We are all consumers and we go through one form of abuse or the other from service providers, manufacturers, retailers, etcetera. Every Nigerian is daily subjected to abuse. We thank God for the establishment of CPC because before then, we had nowhere to turn to but now for those aggrieved consumers who can be bothered we have CPC to run to.
CPC has the right to investigate any manufacturer. In fact, it is one of their statutory rights.Part of their function is to seek ways and means of eliminating from the market hazardous products and causing offenders to replace such products with more appropriate alternatives, encourage trade, industry and professional associations to develop and enforce in their various fields quality standards designed to safeguard the interest of consumers, Issue guidelines to manufacturers, importers, dealers and wholesalers in relation to their obligation under the act.
It is to the credit of the Council that despite their meagre resources and dearth of staff which are some of the challenges facing the Council, it is still able to make its voice heard in a country of over 180 million people.
The Council made its first major impact in 2015, when it issued Volkswagen of Nigeria a seven days ultimatum to provide information on the status of its vehicles as regards the emissions of cheating software which is reported to have affected 11 million cars nationwide.
The Council investigated the activities of VIP Express Tourism Limited, a Nigerian hospitality company upon receipt of complaints that the operations of the company is against the rights of their subscribers.
Upon numerous complaints of subscribers of Digital Satellite Television [DSTV] in July 2015 the Council commenced investigative sittings into the operations of Multichoice Nigeria, the franchise owners of DSTV and was able just recently to bring it to a successful conclusion, to the delight of consumers.
Another breakthrough is the addressing of some of the problems in the Telecommunication industry due to the collaboration between the Council and the Ministry of Communication though much more still needs to be done in that area. The CPC has also tried to tackle some of the consumer issues in the aviation industry.
However, despite these achievements, analysts feel that CPC should collaborate with SON, NAFDAC and other government regulatory agencies and tackle the issues of the escalating adulterated and substandard products in the market instead of investigating NB that is doing more good than harm.
It must be pointed out that at the three beer symposium held so far in Lagos, the key message being passed out by all the speakers, is “moderate drinking in order to benefit from the nutritional contents of beer”, which of course comes from the four ingredients used in beer making; hops, water, grains and yeast.
The symposium is more of an eye opener. It can appropriately be described as an enlightenment and educative forum. An avenue to know everything needed to know about beer not about a brand. To clarify myths and facts on beer, the dangers of excessive alcohol consumption,educating you that whatever you consume determines your health.
The symposium amongst other things, affords the opportunity for robust discussions on how to curtail excessive alcohol consumption and grants everyone in attendance the opportunity to clarify from experts any confusing issues on alcohol consumption.
It is a myth for instance that drinking of beer induces what we call ‘beer belly’ but a fact that excess carbohydrate and calories is responsible for extruded tommy. It is a myth that one drink for the road clears the drivers head and makes him see better but a fact that alcohol consumption can dull a driver’s responses and instincts which will ultimately lead to an accident.
No wonder on October 20th, 2014, NB in order to demonstrate its commitment to encourage responsible consumption of alcohol signed an MOU with the Federal Road Safety Commission [FRSC] on the ‘Don’t Drink and Drive’ safety awareness campaign with the specific aim of educating the Nigerian motoring public in traffic hazards associated with drink driving.
At the last symposium, Nicolaas Vervelde, the NB Managing Director delivering his speech, aptly emphasised that “In all our communications, we continue to stress the importance of moderation and responsible consumption of beer. We will continue to emphasise this point because the wrong use or abuse of beer can indeed have undesirable consequences.”
