written/translated by: Ciarán Reilly
Blubber Victory
Over the past two years, more
than 30 thousand cyberactivists
wrote to the Norwegian prime minister
asking him to stop plans to
export whale blubber to Japan and
other countries. We now have a victory!
Here's the update from our
whale campaign:
A committee of Norwegian scientists
has formally recognised the
high levels of toxic compounds in
whale blubber produced by Norway
hunt and recommended that human
consumption of whale blubber be
banned in Norway. Their tests
showed that one gram of minke
blubber had about 95 picograms of
PCB-related pollutants, almost a
tenth of the maximum weekly
intake under European Union
guidelines. PCBs build up in fatty
tissues and have been linked to birth
defects.
The recommendation to ban consumption
of blubber in Norway
ends the possibility of export to
Japan. This is a real blow to the
Norwegian whaling industry whose
expansion has been driven by hopes
of increased profits through export.
(Greenpeace Activist News,
Vol. 3, No. 4, 7 May 2003)
Note: see also the article
“Whale Blubber:
Food or Toxic Waste” in
the “European Vegetarian”,
issue 2/2002.
According to Norwegian
sources, this toxic meat
will now be used for the
production of food for
pets and fur-farm animals.
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