Practical Ethics for Food Professionals

This book offers a practical guide to the most pressing ethical issues faced by those working in food manufacturing and associated industries. Early chapters look at the fundamentals of ethical thinking and how lessons of medical ethics might be applied to the food industry. The book then addresses some issues specifically relevant to the food industry, including treatment of animals; the use of genetically modified organisms; food product advertising; health claims and sustainability. Several further chapters present case studies which show how ethical thinking can be applied in real life examples. This volume should be on the desk of every food industry professional responsible for important decisions about science, marketing, resources, sustainability, the environment and people.

Auteur

Dr J. Peter Clark
is Consultant to the Process Industries and Contributing Editor: Food Technology magazine (IFT), Oak Park, Illinois, USA

Christopher Ritson
is Emeritus Professor of Agricultural Marketing at the Centre for Rural Economy, School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Newcastle University, UK

Texte du rabat

Ethical considerations are involved in every aspect of a food professional's education and career, but the subject is rarely taught explicitly. Unfortunate examples of ethical lapses abound in news reports and many issues of strategy have ethical components, but guiding principles are sometimes difficult to articulate. Some business and engineering colleges have adopted an emphasis on values and ethics, but these also need to be communicated to food professionals who have the opportunity to apply them in a practical sense.

Practical Ethics for Food Professionals offers a practical guide to the most pressing ethical issues faced by those working in food manufacturing and associated industries. Early chapters look at the fundamentals of ethical thinking and how the lessons of medical ethics might be applied to the food industry. The book then addresses some issues specifically relevant to the food industry including the treatment of animals; ethics in publishing; worker exploitation; health claims and sustainability.

Several further chapters present case studies which show how ethical thinking can be applied in real life examples.

This volume is directed at food scientists, technologists and other professionals working in food manufacturing companies and food research institutions. It will also provide valuable reading for educators and students of food and agriculture-related subjects.

Contenu

Contributors ix

Preface xi

PART I PRINCIPLES

1 Fundamentals of ethics: the use of virtues 3

Edmund G. Seebauer

2 Lessons from medical ethics 21

Thomas A. Nairn

3 Ethical principles and the ethical matrix 39

Ben Mepham

4 An East Asian perspective on food ethics: implications for
childhood obesity in mainland China 57

Vinh Sum Chau

PART II ISSUES IN FOOD INDUSTRY ETHICS

5 Ethics in business 77

Timothy F. Bednarz

6 Ethics in publishing/reporting food science and technology
research 93

Daryl Lund

7 Humane treatment of livestock 101

Temple Grandin

8 Sustainable food production and consumption 117

Jeanette Longfield

9 Good or bad foods? Responsible health and nutrition claims in
Europe 135

Sue Davies

10 Worker exploitation in food production and service 153

Charlie Clutterbuck

PART III EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDIES

11 Ethical practices in the workplace 173

J. Peter Clark

12 Ethical thinking and practice 189

Louis B. Clark

13 The fair trade movement 203

Richard Norman

14 A serious case: the Peanut Corporation of America 221

Mark F. Clark

15 Ethical aspects of nanotechnology in the area of food and
food manufacturing 239

Herbert J. Buckenhuskes

16 Food commodity speculation - an ethical perspective
247

Chris Sutton

PART IV CONCLUSION

17 Reflections on food ethics 265

Christopher Ritson

Index 277