Colon cleansing course fined for toilet shortage

The arrangers of a Hawaiian colon cleansing course in northern Sweden that worked a little too well have been fined for not having enough toilets. One of the course's female participants reported the company that arranged the course after she was forced to empty her bowels outside in front of other participants.

According to the woman, the fact there were more participants than toilets forced participants to employ a "first come, first served" policy, much to the detriment of those for whom the treatment worked less urgently. The course in Hawaiian colonic cleansing was organised at a residential study centre in Ångermanland in northern Sweden.



The centre has now been ordered to refund 1,000 kronor ($158) to the woman after she complained that not only did the toilet facilities not meet demand, the course was too short and too expensive. "The board assumes that the vast majority would prefer, and even take for granted, the possibility to defecate in private, unless otherwise apparent from the event's information," the Swedish National Board for Consumer Disputes (Allmänna reklamationsnämnden - ARN) wrote in its decision.

Hawaiian colon cleansing is a process developed by the island nation's Kahunas - taken to mean variously expert, sorcerer, magician or minister - for the radical purging of bowel plaque and acids. The cleansing process is completed by drinking large quantities of lightly-salted water and herbal concoctions over the course of several days.