Consumers share responsibility for dioxin scandal

A scandal over dioxin tainted animal feed is currently rocking Germany, where roughly 5,000 chicken farms have been closed down in the past week. The daily Sme is not surprised: "Every Saturday German households are flooded with flyers from the supermarket around the corner announcing the fantastic deals that will be coming their way. Then on Monday consumers launch into battle to take advantage of bargain prices for milk, chicken, butter and cheese. People cut corners everywhere to save up for a luxury holiday in the summer or a new car for the wife. ... A few insecure souls buy organic produce now and then, in the hopes that they'll get better quality. But they too then quickly start to count their pennies and soon abandon these expensive foods in favour of cheap produce. ... A chicken that costs less than a trip on the public transport can hardly have reared in a healthy way. The main thing is that as consumers we too are starting to pay attention to such matters."

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