Editor,

Allow me to react to the article, "Do you ever look at the expiry dates of products?” (The New Times, August 5).

So good a reminder related to food stuff and all manufactured products we usually ingest. But what is the extent of knowledge do we have on the remaining whole world of manufactured environment we live in?

How much do we know on risks we incur when wearing unfit shoes, brushing our teeth, sleeping on foam mattress, cooking our meals in aluminum pots, sitting in buses and cars, and painting the walls of our dwellings? Etc.

What are the effects do we know of all those manufactured items on our physical health, on our psychological and social behaviour, on our physical environment while in use and when out of use?

So many questions usually and regrettably unanswered and rarely dealt with by manufacturers, even though the eventual effects never communicated to users may lead to discomfort, to illness, and ultimately to hidden or outburst pandemics and catastrophes!

François-Xavier Nziyonsenga,  Rwanda