Profit over health

Central Bohemian Gov. David Rath told LN yesterday that he has the feeling the bird-flu virus was transmuted into swine flu because someone needed to sell more drugs and couldn't count on people falling for another outbreak of bird flu. By saying this, he might have been going for shock value, but he was in fact calling into question the very integrity of the pharmaceutical industry. Drug companies are intentionally killing people to sell more drugs, Rath was in essence saying. The new documentary "Food, Inc." makes a similar charge about the food industry. Inexpensive food devoid of any nutritional value is going to start killing people on a large scale, according to director Robert Kenner. Food has become merely a carrier for salt, sugar and fat, he said, and any cost savings from mass production are offset by higher long-term medical costs. Producers aren't interested in looking at ways to raise healthier food, he said. It's something for Czechs to keep in mind as a handful of companies take over their basic food production.