Ethical Issues In Food Labeling

Parents often think they are feeding their children healthier options, but what they do not realize is that the flavoring in foods is often made from highly refined chemicals and the sweetness they taste is actually sugar. Many of the pre-packaged foods, such as muffin mixes, contain chemicals designed to taste like the real thing, and have no nutritional value. Often, flavored drinks are high in these chemicals and sugars to make them taste good. The other common misconception that parents make, is that products are made from healthy ingredients because the label says it contains it on the package. The major problem with this is the amount of the healthy ingredients are minimal and gives no nutritional value.

Food manufacturers have started

First, we will view it from the manufactures perspective; the Deontology theory. According to Business Ethics: A Managerial Approach, "Deontology maintains there are certain standards of human decency and respect for the worth of others that rule out treating them in certain ways" (Wicks, Freeman, Werhane, Martin, 2010, p.6).

The manufacturers justify their actions because their goal is to sell their product, no matter what the effects of it are on the consumers who purchase the product. Because actions are viewed as having essentially good and bad qualities, we need to understand where the manufacturer’s styles of thinking come from. The manufactures intent or action is to market their product in order to make a profit. Deontologist view their rights or wrongs based on the action not the outcome of the action. So, unless they are breaking the law, the manufacturer does not see anything wrong with their marketing

According to Business Ethics: A Managerial Approach, “consequentialism focuses on the moral importance of the ends we seek, or the goals we set, and the need to achieve them through our actions” (Wicks, et al., 2010, p. 7). The manufactures have a goal of marketing their products in order to obtain customers who will purchase their product. The actions the manufactures choose are benefiting their business in order to achieve the goals they desire. Consequentialist believe that if their “actions create more good than bad in terms of realizing their goals or purpose” (Wicks, et al., 2010, p. 7). It does not matter to the manufacture if the consumer has an allergy to an ingredient that may be in their product, but they have listed it under another name.

Consumer’s believe they have the right to know what they are putting into their body’s and that the label on the product will inform them of that information. When they find out the truth about food label misconceptions it breaks their trust for those manufactures. view of