Ethical Issues Involved Paper

Identify the Ethical Issues Involved

There are various different factors present in the debate between consumers and big business, with legislators caught in the middle. The purpose of food labels being defined, “such as nutrition information and USDA Organic labels, is to help consumers make more informed purchases that align with their values and nutritional needs. Food labels can also be used as marketing tools, and may convey misleading information.”7 Because the society, which we live in stresses that people and products consistently find new and creative ways to present themselves, a reliance on marketing has been established. Marketers are always trying to convince people that their products are the ones you should pick. The marketers in the food industry are not the only people deploying this strategy. Take for

In addition, other minor stakeholders include United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and farmers. The food industry is finding loopholes within the FDA and USDA regulations enabling them to label their products as better or healthier than what they truly are. Some labels purposely do not reveal everything about their product because there are ingredients that the food contains that will not seem appealing to the consumer’s eyes. Companies continue with these practices in an attempt to promote their brand as better than the competitor’s. This strategy is deceiving because, “they try to hype something that is already required by the law.”11 For example, if any pork or poultry are labeled as “raised without added hormones” then that would mislead consumers to believe that they are getting better quality meat. However, the federal law does not allow farmers to use hormones for pigs and chickens, therefore these hormone-free labels intentionally misguide consumers to think that the product is different and that they should pay more for the higher