I am writing in response to Allan Cook's letter about the fluoridation of water supplies on humanitarian grounds (WDDTY vol 10 no 4).

Once again, the poorest in the community are being touted as the reason why we should all welcome the poisoning of our water supply.

This sounds much like Monsanto's claim that genetically modified food will increase yields and help save poor people from starvation in the third world despite the fact that the people of these countries are emphatically saying no to these crops.

I am one of these "poor" people, who lives in one of the poorest cities. If the government wants to make a difference, it could:

a) educate parents about eating sweets (Scotland's favourite pastime for the under 18s).

b) ban a new advertisement showing a breastfeeding baby with the caption: "YUMMMM mum's been drinking Iron Bru again." There are people who think it's okay to put Iron Bru in an infant's bottle (only 40 per cent of infants in Glasgow get breastfed and these figures are merely for the first month).

c) change the welfare system to include food tokens not just milk tokens with certain healthy food choices, such as pulses, cheese, pure fruit juice and non sugared cereal.

d) give out fluoride drops only to those who want them.

e) teach good dental hygiene to kids at school with programmes recommending that they brush teeth along with washing hands at every lunch hour.

I have seen many kids in my area who eat sugared cereal for breakfast, a

chocolate biscuit, crisps, pizza and a coke for school lunch and chips for dinner, not to mention the sweets and chocolate between coming home from school and dinner.

These are the issues that need tackling, not forcing those of us who make good food choices to drink the agrochemical industry's waste products.

Perhaps Mr Cook did not read the past WDDTY issue on the subject (vol 9 no 12). Sincerely and resolutely voting "NO!" Tania Berlow, Glasgow.