http://action.sumofus.org/a/nestle-nigella-sativa/?sub=mtl
Sign sumofus' petition to Nestlé
Petition Text:
Nestlé: Stop trying to patent and control the curative power of nigella sativa.
Sign sumofus' petition to Nestlé
Petition Text:
Nestlé: Stop trying to patent and control the curative power of nigella sativa.
Everybody is concerned
This was so ridiculous that I had to share, and I hope that you will help me fight it.
Nigella sativa -- more commonly known as fennel flower -- has been used as a cure-all remedy for over a thousand years. It treats everything from vomiting to fevers to skin diseases, and has been widely available in impoverished communities across the Middle East and Asia.
But now Nestlé is claiming to own it, and trying take control over the natural cure of the fennel flower in order to turn it into a costly private drug.
Please join me in telling Nestlé to stop trying to patent this natural cure.
Thank you.
Full account
Nigella sativa -- more commonly known as fennel flower -- has been used
as a cure-all remedy for over a thousand years. It treats everything
from vomiting to fevers to skin diseases, and has been widely available
in impoverished communities across the Middle East and Asia.
But now Nestlé is claiming to own it, and filing patent claims around the world to try and take control over the natural cure of the fennel flower and turn it into a costly private drug.
Tell Nestlé: Stop trying to patent a natural cure
In a paper published last year, Nestlé scientists claimed to “discover” what much of the world has known for millennia: that nigella sativa extract could be used for “nutritional interventions in humans with food allergy”.
But instead of creating an artificial substitute, or fighting to make sure the remedy was widely available, Nestlé is attempting to create a nigella sativa monopoly and gain the ability to sue anyone using it without Nestlé’s permission. Nestlé has filed patent applications -- which are currently pending -- around the world.
Prior to Nestlé's outlandish patent claim, researchers in developing nations such as Egypt and Pakistan had already published studies on the same curative powers Nestlé is claiming as its own. And Nestlé has done this before -- in 2011, it tried to claim credit for using cow’s milk as a laxative, despite the fact that such knowledge had been in Indian medical texts for a thousand years.
Don’t let Nestlé turn a traditional cure into a corporate cash cow.
We know Nestlé doesn’t care about ethics. After all, this is the corporation that poisoned its milk with melamine, purchases cocoa from plantations that use child slave labor, and launched a breast milk substitute campaign in the 1970s that contributed to the suffering and deaths of thousands of babies from poor communities.
But we also know that Nestlé is sensitive to public outcry, and that it's been beaten at the patent game before. If we act fast, we can put enough pressure on Nestlé to get it to drop its patent plans before they harm anyone -- but if we want any chance at affecting Nestlé's decision, we have to speak out now!
**********
More Information:
Third World Network (PDF): Food giant Nestlé claims to have invented stomach soothing use of habbat al-barakah (Nigella sativa), 6 July, 2012
What Nestlé is doing is mere boasting. Nigella sativa has been used already 2000 years ago. Nestlé'd rather keep its head in the mudd.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigella_sativa#History_of_medicine
Not before long Nestlé will want to take control over bottled pure water...
Seit mehr als 2000 Jahren wird Nigella sative (Schwarzkümmel) von den Menschen eingesetzt. Nestlé schmückt sich hier mit fremden Federn.
But now Nestlé is claiming to own it, and filing patent claims around the world to try and take control over the natural cure of the fennel flower and turn it into a costly private drug.
Tell Nestlé: Stop trying to patent a natural cure
In a paper published last year, Nestlé scientists claimed to “discover” what much of the world has known for millennia: that nigella sativa extract could be used for “nutritional interventions in humans with food allergy”.
But instead of creating an artificial substitute, or fighting to make sure the remedy was widely available, Nestlé is attempting to create a nigella sativa monopoly and gain the ability to sue anyone using it without Nestlé’s permission. Nestlé has filed patent applications -- which are currently pending -- around the world.
Prior to Nestlé's outlandish patent claim, researchers in developing nations such as Egypt and Pakistan had already published studies on the same curative powers Nestlé is claiming as its own. And Nestlé has done this before -- in 2011, it tried to claim credit for using cow’s milk as a laxative, despite the fact that such knowledge had been in Indian medical texts for a thousand years.
Don’t let Nestlé turn a traditional cure into a corporate cash cow.
We know Nestlé doesn’t care about ethics. After all, this is the corporation that poisoned its milk with melamine, purchases cocoa from plantations that use child slave labor, and launched a breast milk substitute campaign in the 1970s that contributed to the suffering and deaths of thousands of babies from poor communities.
But we also know that Nestlé is sensitive to public outcry, and that it's been beaten at the patent game before. If we act fast, we can put enough pressure on Nestlé to get it to drop its patent plans before they harm anyone -- but if we want any chance at affecting Nestlé's decision, we have to speak out now!
**********
More Information:
Third World Network (PDF): Food giant Nestlé claims to have invented stomach soothing use of habbat al-barakah (Nigella sativa), 6 July, 2012
What Nestlé is doing is mere boasting. Nigella sativa has been used already 2000 years ago. Nestlé'd rather keep its head in the mudd.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigella_sativa#History_of_medicine
Not before long Nestlé will want to take control over bottled pure water...
Seit mehr als 2000 Jahren wird Nigella sative (Schwarzkümmel) von den Menschen eingesetzt. Nestlé schmückt sich hier mit fremden Federn.
