BROADCASTING CAN DAMAGE YOUR HEALTH

It Shouldn't Happen to a Pig
BBC 2

The National Farmer's Union is seething about the front cover of Radio Times for 5 May.
   The mock "health warning" which it puts on some meats is so authentic-looking, says the union, that the casual reader is likely to be misled into thinking that the Government is out to persuade us to stop eating meat and poultry.
   So damaging is it, says the NFU, that the individual pig and poultry producers might have a case for legal action.

   What worries me is the programme which the illustration advertises and the fact that until the NFU protested, there was no intention to include a farming representative in the discussion panel which will go on the air when the documentary finishes.
   The programme is said to take a hard swipe at alleged misuses of veterinary drugs. Pig and poultry producers must surely have a right of reply.