SHILLONG: Most people do not read the fine print when they buy packaged food products but some do. The father of a six-year-old boy who checked the contents on the packet of the candied marshmallows bought from a local supermarket found to his horror that the marshmallows contained beef gelatin.
Originally marshmallows are a confection made from the root of the marshmallow plant or from corn syrup, sugar, albumen, and gelatin beaten to a light spongy consistency The word “mucilaginous” means “jelly-like.”
Later, the root was replaced by gelatin and that is how modern marshmallows are made.
Marshmallows are a food product targeted exclusively at young children who don’t look at the ingredient information and consume what is on offer. The parent of the young boy said he was shocked to read that a children’s consumable product contains meat. And not only does it contain meat, but the meat in question is beef.
He said the package contains absolutely no description of the manufacturer/ distributor except that it is “Made in China”. There is a statement on the package that, “None of our products contain alcohol or pork.”
This statement is bizarre since it is not expected that children’s eatables would contain alcohol or meat of any kind. “In a country where beef and pork are taboo for one or the other religious group, to add beef gelatin without a cautionary stamp especially to a child’s food product is a serious matter because the child is not in a position to make an informed choice,” said the boy’s father who did not wish to be named.
He added, “I personally consume beef, but that is an informed choice I have made as an adult. To offer something to children which takes away their ability to make an informed choice in the future merits condemnation.
He further stated that there are countless number of children who are ‘vegetarian’ and who consume marshmallows because they don’t know better. And even among non-vegetarians there are many who don’t consume beef. Hence they have consumed something they might regret at some point in the future.
When a grocery stores owner was confronted with the marshmallow packet they said they too had not read the fine print. “We cannot read the list of ingredients in each and every packaged food item. “It is for the customers to remain alert and conscious and to find out which ingredients are included in every food item,” said the owner of a grocery store in the city.
