Abstract
This paper considers whether individual companies have an ethical obligation to label their Genetically Modified (GM) foods. GM foods and ingredients pervade grocery store shelves, despite the fact that a majority of North Americans have worries about eating those products. The market as whole has largely failed to respond to consumer preference in this regard, as have North American governments. A number of consumer groups, NGO’s, and activist organizations have urged corporations to label their GM products. This paper asks whether, in such a situation, individual corporations can be ethically required to take such unilateral action. We argue that they cannot. Given the lack of solid evidence for any risk to human health, and the serious market disadvantage almost surely associated with costly unilateral action, no individual company has an ethical obligation to label its GM foods.
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Chris MacDonald is Associate Professor in the Philosophy Department at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Canada, and its President of the Canadian Society for the Study of Practical Ethics. His research is currently focused on ethical issues in the biotechnology industry and on corporate moral motivation. He is author of the popular Business Ethics Blog (www.businessethicsblog.com).
Melissa Whellams is a graduate student in the International Development Studies program at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She holds a B.Comm in International Business and has worked in the private and non-profit sectors in Canada, Ecuador, and Australia. She is currently conducting research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the mining and biotechnology industries.
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MacDonald, C., Whellams, M. Corporate Decisions about Labelling Genetically Modified Foods. J Bus Ethics 75, 181–189 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9245-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9245-8