Consumer rights in doubt
Greece’s consumers are much better informed about the safety and quality of the food and drink they buy than they were some 10 years ago, experts said yesterday, even though polls suggest that the Greeks are some of Europe’s biggest worriers about the impact of suspect products. Writing in Kathimerini to mark World Consumer Rights Day today, the president of EKPOIZO (the Greek Quality of Life Consumer Union), Eleni Alevritou, said that great strides have been made in improving the rights of consumers in Greece in recent years. «What did we know about the unsuitability of food a decade ago, its withdrawal and those who produced or distributed it? Absolutely nothing,» said Alevritou. «Over the last few years, this infuriating lack of transparency… has begun receding.» A recent EU survey indicated that Greeks worry more than most Europeans about the safety of their food. The Eurobarometer poll found, for example, that 87 percent of Greeks are concerned that the fruit and vegetables they buy have traces of fertilizers. Despite consumer organizations insisting that things are improving, consumers do not seem to be convinced – a recent poll by VPRC for Kathimerini suggested that three in four Greeks believe that the quality of food is worse now than 10 years ago. Alevritou believes that consumers should not be misled by the sensationalist coverage of product withdrawals and food seizures. «It would be unfair for the daily torrent of information about unsuitable food to lead to an undermining of all food,» the EKPOIZO president said. Meanwhile, statistics released yesterday by the EU indicate that Greeks, along with Italians, are the least likely Europeans to binge drink. The Eurobarometer poll found that only 2 percent of Greeks drink five or more drinks in one sitting. One in 10 Europeans admitted to binge drinking.
