Chennai Traders Will Cease To Sell Soft Drinks From Multinational Companies In March

Traders in Chennai have taken a strong stand against selling products that are made by multinational corporations. So much so that, come March 1^st, they will only be selling products made by Indian brands.

Tamil Nadu Vanigar Sangangalin Peramaipu president A.M Vikramraja said that the month of February would be dedicated to educating the traders and consumers about the evils of these foreign brands. He even added, “They cause more harm than good to the body. Only recently, one of the brands admitted to the fact that it was not suitable for children and that it contained certain harmful chemicals.”

In 1998, the association – which has 6,000 affiliated member associations and 15.87 lakh members – fought against Kinley and Pepsico and were unable to stop them due to the high demand from consumers. But now, after all the protesting due to Jallikattu, the campaign is moving forward thanks to the youth of the city demanding a ban on these soft drinks since the companies draw out local groundwater and mint profits outside of the country.

The association is also asking restaurants and hotels to not sell these products as well.

S.A Ponnusamy of the Tamil Nadu Milk Dealers Employees Welfare Association also said that they would not sell milk manufactured by a particular MNC, insisting a move to Indian brands.