The Mirage of Product Safety

Hasnas, John

doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195307955.003.0024

Cited by 4 publications

(12 citation statements)

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“…This can refer to moral wrongs, for instance, when a firm knowingly and willingly harms a consumer, as well as to moral negligence, such as when a firm is expected to inform a consumer about the relevant properties of a product, but fails to do so (cf. Ebejer and Morden 1988;Hasnas 2009;Sher 2011). In discussions on corporate irresponsibility in sales and marketing in the food and beverage industry, these principles of ordinary morality are frequently highlighted as key moral rules to which firms need to live up to in their daily operations.…”

Section: Ordinary Morality and Corporate (Ir)responsibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Now, some libertarian scholars might argue this is not a problem, or at least not a problem food firms should be concerned with (cf. Epstein 2004;Hasnas 2009;Palmer and Hedberg 2013). When corporate actors account for their legal obligations and respect ordinary morality, this is where the buck stops when it comes to corporate responsibility for health.…”

Section: A Wider Corporate Responsibility To Prevent and Mitigate Foomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If there is a great demand for tasty food products among Injustice in Food-Related Public Health Problems consumers, food-producing businesses should provide such products, and consumers should be free to decide what they want to eat or drink (cf. Hasnas 2009). If the product tastes so good that it entices the consumer to continue eating, it is questionable whether this is something the company should be blamed or held accountable for; instead, it seems to be doing exactly what the market expects it to do.…”

Section: A Wider Corporate Responsibility To Prevent and Mitigate Foomentioning

confidence: 99%

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Injustice in Food-Related Public Health Problems: A Matter of Corporate Responsibility

Tempels¹,

Blok²,

Verweij³

2020

Bus. Ethics Q.

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The responsibility of the food and beverage industry for noncommunicable diseases is a controversial topic. Public health scholars identify the food and beverage industry as one of the main contributors to the rise of these diseases. We argue that aside from moral duties like not doing harm and respecting consumer autonomy, the food industry also has a responsibility for addressing the structural injustices involved in food-related health problems. Drawing on the work of Iris Marion Young, this article first shows how food-related public health problems can be understood as structural injustices. Second, it makes clear how the industry is sustaining these health injustices, and that due to this connection, corporate actors share responsibility for addressing food-related health problems. Finally, three criteria (capacity, benefit, and vulnerability) are discussed as grounds for attributing responsibility, allowing for further specification on what taking responsibility for food-related health problems can entail in corporate practice.

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Section: Ordinary Morality and Corporate (Ir)responsibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: A Wider Corporate Responsibility To Prevent and Mitigate Foomentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: A Wider Corporate Responsibility To Prevent and Mitigate Foomentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Injustice in Food-Related Public Health Problems: A Matter of Corporate Responsibility

Tempels¹,

Blok²,

Verweij³

2020

Bus. Ethics Q.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…For while it is frequently asserted that firms have the moral responsibility to live up the principles of non-maleficence and respect consumer autonomy, it is not self-evident that these principles are violated in for instance the sales of unhealthy food and beverage products (cf. Ebejer & Morden, 1988;Hasnas, 2009;Sher, 2011) First of all, it is not clear-cut that unhealthy products should also be considered to be harmful products. Many unhealthy products are not unsafe in the sense that they pose an immediate harm to health (they are not toxic, diseasecarrying or containing non-food substances).…”

Section: Contesting Responsibility For Food-related Public Health Issuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This closely connects to one of the dominant assumptions in (classic) economics, namely that consumers are rational, autonomous actors that can make their own voluntary decisions. Corporations have to refrain from engaging in behaviour that would violate the autonomy of the consumers (Ebejer & Morden, 1988;Hasnas, 2009;Sher, 2011). In regular market activities this principle is connected to the idea of honest dealing, meaning that transactions are only permissible as long as both parties knowingly and voluntarily consent to a deal (so indeed the idea of respect for autonomy, and the conditions of the volenti principle do coincide).…”

Section: Undue Corporate Influence On Autonomymentioning

confidence: 99%

A Janus-faced food industry? : ethical reflections on corporate responsibility for health

Tempels¹

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Chapter 1 I. Understanding the food industry's role in the rise of foodrelated health problems The rise of non-communicable disease and unhealthy diets Over the past forty years the WHO has been ringing the alarm bells to raise awareness and stimulate action to counter the rise of malnutrition and NCDs. NCDs are chronic diseases that can last a long time and are killing over 41 million people a year. While they often occur as a result of genetic, physiological, environmental and behavioural factors, they are strongly associated with an unhealthy lifestyle. In 2011 the then WHO chairman, Margaret Chan, addressed the United Nations stating that: "The worldwide increase of noncommunicable diseases is a slow-motion disaster, as most of these diseases develop over time. But unhealthy lifestyles that fuel these diseases are spreading with a stunning speed and sweep" (Chan, 2011). The notion of an unhealthy lifestyle is directly connected to our food consumption. Unhealthy diets foster high blood pressure, elevated blood lipids as well as obesity. These are metabolic risk factors for NCDs such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (WHO, 2018). Our global food system plays a part in this, in a seemingly contradictory way. On the one hand the system is unable to meet the global demand, leading people to be underfed, while at the same time an increasing number of people are suffering from overweight and obesity (Stuckler et al., 2012; Stuckler & Nestle, 2012). While paradoxical at first glance, overnutrition and undernutrition are different sides of the same coin, namely that of malnutrition. People, especially those living in poverty, frequently have little choice to opt for the healthier food, as the choice might not be available, or when it is, it is too expensive. This leaves society's poor with little choice: either they do not eat, or they opt for cheap high-processed food-that is usually high on salt, sugar and fat (Development Initiatives, 2018; Ratcliffe, 2018; Stuckler & Nestle, 2012). Empirical studies also confirm that that the consumption of unhealthy food products like soft drinks, red meat and ultra-processed foods has increased over the past years (Afshin et al., 2019; Imamura et al., 2015; Micha et al., 2015). Stuckler and colleagues showed how the consumption of unhealthy commodities between 1997 II. Philosophical perspectives on responsibility and food-related health problems On business ethics and corporate responsibility Business ethics aims to articulate and explain the normative principles which can guide right action in business. Since firms and entrepreneurs are involved in many different affairs, the business ethics debate is very broad and focusses on various dimensions that relate to the conduct of business, ranging from the interactions between firms and consumers, between firms and employees, as well as between firms and society as a whole (Moriarty, 2017). General ethical theories like consequentialism, deontology or virtue ethics can be applied to explain how individuals should inter...

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Food Vendor Beware! On Ordinary Morality and Unhealthy Marketing

2019

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Food and beverage firms are frequently criticised for their impact on the spread of non-communicable diseases like obesity and diabetes type 2. In this article we explore under what conditions the sales and marketing of unhealthy food and beverage products is irresponsible. Starting from the notion of ordinary morality we argue that firms have a duty to respect people’s autonomy and adhere to the principle of non-maleficence in both market and non-market environments. We show how these considerations are relevant when thinking about immoral behaviour in the food and beverage industry, and identify under what conditions sales and marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages to adults and children is wrong. Based on this analysis we argue that firms should take into account: whether consumers are able to identify manipulative marketing, the degree of manipulation, as well as the negative impact a product has on health. We hold that for the food industry to act responsible it should re-evaluate the marketing of unhealthy products to adults and refrain from marketing to children. We conclude this study by making several recommendations on how the food industry should interact with consumers and highlight what changes need to be made in corporate practice.

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The Mirage of Product Safety

Cited by 4 publications

References 4 publications

Injustice in Food-Related Public Health Problems: A Matter of Corporate Responsibility

Injustice in Food-Related Public Health Problems: A Matter of Corporate Responsibility

A Janus-faced food industry? : ethical reflections on corporate responsibility for health

Food Vendor Beware! On Ordinary Morality and Unhealthy Marketing

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