Three Lies in One

Three Lies in One / Rebeca Monzo
Posted on September 22, 2014

A few years ago they began selling salt in little one-kilo bags — it
previously had been sold in bulk — with a ration book allotment of one
bag per couple every three months. As a result it was out of reach of
most consumers. At first it was white and fine, as though it had been
imported, but that did not last long. For a long time now it has been
available in the same plastic bags with three key features highlighted
on the label: fine, iodized, non-clumping. In reality it is thick,
dirty, gray and damp. It looks like the kind used by industry for
tanning leather.

Just yesterday I heard on the radio that Cuba had officially licensed a
testing lab that will certify the quality of products that are imported
and exported. This was presented as a great achievement, as big news!
Then I remembered that back in the 1950s almost all products consumed in
this country — especially those that were imported — prominently
displayed two internationally recognized seals of approval: one from
Good Housekeeping and one from the University of Villanueva.

For more than three decades now we have been buying naked products — in
other words products without labels — especially toothpaste and toilet
paper, which came unwrapped, resulting in largely unsanitary paper. I
hope that from now on they will take this initiative seriously and
revamp products they guarantee — or simply drop false claims on
packaging like the ones on bags of salt and other products in the market
— so that the consumer will no longer continue to be misled.

19 September 2014

Source: Three Lies in One / Rebeca Monzo | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/three-lies-in-one-rebeca-monzo/