INSURANCE COMPANY RECEIVES PETA AWARD FOR GIVING VEGETARIANS A DISCOUNT

Clients Who Eat Healthier Should Pay Less, Says Managing Director

For Immediate Release:
18 October 2013

Sydney – For offering up to a 20 per cent discount on life insurance premiums to clients who adopt a healthy vegan or vegetarian diet, Make A Difference Insurance, which has offices in Sydney and Melbourne, will receive a Compassionate Company Award from animal rights group PETA Australia.

“The range of serious diseases linked to eating meat, eggs and dairy products makes non-vegetarians a high risk for insurers”, says PETA Australia Director of Campaigns Jason Baker. “By encouraging policyholders to go vegetarian with a sizeable discount on their premiums, Make A Difference Insurance is offering them a way to save money and possibly their lives.”

According to news reports, the promotion is the brainchild of Make A Difference Insurance Managing Director Brian Jones, himself a vegetarian. Jones points out that because life insurance premiums are based on several factors, including family medical history, alcohol and tobacco use and other lifestyle choices, health-friendly vegetarian and vegan diets should also figure into the equation. In accordance with a growing body of scientific evidence, Jones cited a lower incidence of heart disease and some types of cancer and attributed some of a plant-based diet’s protective qualities to the higher amounts of antioxidants and fibre.

Besides being turned off by the massive animal suffering and environmental destruction as a result of raising and killing animals for food, consumers have other good reasons to shun meat, eggs and dairy products. According to the US-based Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, vegetarians are less prone to strokes, diabetes and obesity, in addition to heart disease and cancer, than meat-eaters. And the damage can begin frighteningly early in life. Many children who are raised on a traditional cholesterol- and saturated fat–laden diet show symptoms of heart disease by age 7.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.au.

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