Don’t Eat The News: Religare Health Insurance launches awareness campaign against slow poisoning

Updated Oct 25, 2018 | 18:44 IST | Times Now Digital

Do you have the habit of eating food wrapped in newspapers? The printing ink used in the newspapers contain harmful chemicals such as dyes, alcohol, pigments, preservatives, etc.

Consumption of food wrapped in newspapers is injurious to health
Consumption of food wrapped in newspapers is injurious to health 

New Delhi: We have been told that eating food wrapped in newspapers is not safe and can cause negative health implications, including cancer. Unfortunately, this unhealthy practice is seen everywhere in India. In an attempt to create public awareness about the harmful effects of consuming food wrapped in newspapers, Religare Health Insurance - one of India’s leading health insurers - unveiled a mass campaign titled ‘Don’t Eat The News’, wherein the company distributed fresh paper wraps with the aforementioned facts printed in edible ink to the street vendors along with launching a helpline to address public queries.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) recently issued an advisory citing that the consumption of food wrapped in newspapers is injurious to health and its usage should be prohibited. The printing ink used in the newspapers contain harmful chemicals such as dyes, alcohol, pigments, preservatives etc, which can cause food poisoning and severe digestive problems. The inks used for newspaper printing also contain multiple bioactive that can cause high blood pressure, kidney ailments and cancer in certain cases. Children and the aged people are at a greater risk since they have a weaker immune system. Read - Food poisoning: Common signs and symptoms, what to eat, and what to avoid when you have food poisoning

“In India, newspapers are widely used as packaging material by small restaurants, street food vendors and even at homes. We realised that there was an urgent need to discourage this rampant practice by creating awareness, especially among un-organised food operators and also people at large. We decided to engage with street vendors and replace their newspapers with fresh paper wraps containing an awareness message,” Mr Paritosh Kataria, Head of Marketing, Religare Health Insurance, said.

He said a Toll-Free Number was also printed on the paper to understand the effectiveness of the delivery of their message. This initiative was co-developed and executed by Famous Innovations.

“The idea is simple yet disruptive because it makes use of an already available but unutilized medium. It’s a classic attempt at trying to catch the reader with the right message in the wrong place - in a way that they can’t ignore it. Health Insurance is an important category that deserves far more attention than it is getting. Which is why we sought a non-traditional communication format - something that is involved in people’s everyday life and experiences,” Siddhartha Singh, CEO, Famous Innovations, added.

According to the company, within two weeks of the campaign roll-out, over 5 Lakhs fresh paper wraps were distributed and approximately 55,000 enquiries have been received. Realising the success of the campaign, RHI said it intends to tie-up with vendors across India starting with six key markets, which includes Delhi/NCR, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Pune.

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