Tinned foods 'upset Islanders’ health

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33932, 27 August 1975, Page 20

Tinned foods ' upset Islanders’ health

Tinned and processed foods are causing serious health and economic problems in the British Solomon Islands, according to the medical superintendent of Helena Goldie Hospital (Dr R. B. Scown).

In a letter to the secretary of the Lepers’ Trust Board (Mr D. Douglas) Dr Scown said he had examined children whose growth was stunted because they got too much of this sort of diet. "The Island people had seen Europeans using this food but did not realise that their real use was supplementary to fresh food or in case of emergency, and that it was not good as a staple diet. “Not only are most of these processed foods unnecessary — they are also a big drain on the country’s meagre financial resources. "What is happening is that growers are taking their good vegetables and fruit to the market and using the proceeds to buy poor quality tinned fish and beef, which is often loaded with cheap cereal. "Then thev live on this rubbish until, by selling their next lot of produce, they get the money to buy more tinned food.” Dr Scown said he was beginning a campaign aimed at

a better understanding of essential nutrition in the Solomon Islands. He intends to emphasise the value of the wide range of natural foods available in the area. “I am anxious to counter the present tendency towards buying expensive processed food,” he said.