Buyer Beware: The Health Hazards of Everyday Goods Exposed

Author: (Japanese) Shunji Funase
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: Nowadays, behind the prosperity of the consumer goods market, there are hidden safety hazards. Faced with a wide variety of products with inconsistent quality, what criteria do you use to make your choices? Is it TV advertisements? Newspapers and magazines? Or discounted promotions? The author of Buy This, Not That—an expert in consumer and environmental issues—firstfully discloses the health hazards in everyday goods to the public in this book. The book is a compilation of articles originally published in the magazine Friday Weekly, which relies solely on subscriptions and does not accept advertising. The articles were serialized from 1996 onwards. The author categorizes goods closely related to daily life, such as food, beverages, cleaning agents, cosmetics, medications, and miscellaneous items, and cites reports from research institutions to expose representative products produced by major Japanese manufacturers. The side effects caused by their ingredient content are so alarming that they can be harmful in almost every way. One of the authors, Shunji Funase, has been invited to give speeches across Japan, where many people often tell him, "You're still alive, it's truly not easy." They know that media reporters taking on large corporations is a courageous act that comes with life-threatening risks. Buy This, Not That is a challenge from the media to the big corporations on behalf of consumers. Co-author Masayoshi Furihata urges consumers to adopt strategies such as not buying, not drinking, and not buying as gifts, while also changing the habit of purchasing without checking the product ingredients.