THE contaminated baby milk issue has assumed a major dimension after it was proved beyond doubt that large quantities of this product were still available in the local market. The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) assured us that the market was free of these products, which could cause fatal diseases. The Ministry of Commerce refuted this claim by confirming the availability of quantities of the contaminated baby milk in the local market. The ministry has received information from a number of citizens asserting that quantities of the tainted milk are available in the market through accredited distributors. I am not criticizing the role of either of the SFDA or the Commerce Ministry. I have no doubt that they have both made efforts to the best of their abilities and according to their own potential. I am, however, questioning the role of the merchants, dealers and the distributors in this issue. What has society done to protect itself against such hazards? Where is the social responsibility in all this? How can a merchant, a distributor or a pharmacist accept having such products on his shelves without taking any measure to protect people against them? The merchants, pharmacists and distributors could have simply picked up the phone to inform the concerned authorities about the danger of these products when they were sure that the products were tainted and could be hazardous to human health. The SFDA had withdrawn some quantities of the contaminated milk from the market after the ministry had ascertained their existence but has it also withdrawn the quantities that have already found their way to our homes? Has the SFDA withdrawn the contaminated milk from the families who have already bought them? Do we know anything about the health condition of the babies who might have taken this milk? The SFDA needs to upgrade its laboratories. The Commerce Ministry needs to have more supervisors considering the country's geography and taking into account that many unscrupulous people have entered into the world of business. In my opinion, the responsibility in the case of the tainted milk lies with the distributors as the Commerce Ministry has indicated. The accredited agents or distributors represent large establishments that have the ability to import and distribute. We are not talking here about a pharmacy or a grocery but about a company that has warehouses and a network of stores all over the Kingdom and which operates in the international food trade with business running into millions, if not billions, of riyals. Although these companies are making huge profits, they do not give much attention to the health of the citizen nor to the danger posed by their products, which they bring and sell to us at high prices. Why did these companies not take the initiative to withdraw the quantities of the contaminated milk from the market or stop their distribution? Why didn't they send some samples to the international labs to make sure that these products were suitable for human use? Why didn't they contact the parent company or the manufacturer to know if the baby milk was contaminated or not? The SFDA and the Commerce Ministry should find out where the quantities of the contaminated baby milk were distributed and who bought them. The grocers who have quantities of this product should have withdrawn it from their shelves or at least contacted the distributing companies to ensure that the milk was not contaminated and could safely be sold to the people. Everyone should shoulder his responsibility. The distribution of the contaminated milk and its selling to the children is not acceptable at all. The parties involved, including the pharmacists, the grocers and the SFDA, should not shrug off their responsibility in this case. The New Zealand manufacturer has shouldered its legal and social responsibility. It has publicly announced that some of its products were contaminated. This being the case, why do then our accredited distributors deny their responsibility in the issue while they are quite sure that the manufacturer is committed to compensating them for their losses? Why do they insist on distributing dubious products? Why do pharmacies and groceries continue to sell these products while they know that they are contaminated and are damaging to health? Why is it a common phenomenon in our country that the agents and the distributors continue to sell the products even after the original manufacturer has decided to withdraw them for certain manufacturing faults? Why do some Saudi merchants force their negligence or greed upon the health of the families and children? Many of the restaurants are unhygienic. Some factories do not care about the level of radiation in their products. We have hospitals that sell death and schools that propagate illiteracy. I know it is not fair to generalize. I also know that this may sound incorrect but it is rare to find safe products with Saudi merchants as long as the SFDA and the Commerce Ministry are not vigilant enough or are busy in other things. The merchant may find a chance to sell his deadly products taking advantage of the ignorance of the people and the silence of the media or clerics and the concerned departments.
