Transparency in the Food Chain
By JOHN KEOGH President & Principal Advisor
The following short extract is from some of the positive momentum I will be including in my upcoming e-book on food chain transparency.
In this fast-paced digital era, media is not confined to traditional channels such as press, TV or radio channels. Much wider and deeper coverage of food safety and adulteration incidents on the Internet have made consumers unprecedentedly sensitive to global issues, particularly the safety, authenticity, ethicality and sustainability of the foods they purchase and consume.
Trust is just a click away and can be earned or lost without the consumer purchasing or consuming the product, depending on how a food business uses these digital tools to communicate ethically and honestly with consumers.
The emergence of “Brand Activism” in the Food Chain
According to Euromonitor, consumption in 2015 can be viewed as a “route to progress”. They highlight that this idea has emerged several times in recent years, notably in the green consumption arena, and is resurfacing both in terms of “expression through product consumption and corporate social responsibility choices”. Accordingly, brands are now keener to align themselves with changing the world for the better, picking up on consumer interest and public pressures in a more caring consumption style.
In essence, the big food companies are listening now and some have started to take positive action. Responding to demands for natural ingredients and more transparency in their supply chains, companies such as McDonalds have responded recently with positive corporate commitments.
McDonald’s USA plans to stop sourcing Chicken that came from farms using human antibiotics. This move came amid growing concerns about increased infections in humans caused by bacteria that have become resistant to common antibiotics. McDonalds will also stop sourcing milk products from farms where cows were treated with artificial growth hormones.
Dunkin’ Brands Group will remove titanium dioxide, a whitening agent and source of nanomaterials from powdered sugar commonly sprinkled on donuts. A not for profit group called As You Sow commissioned laboratory testing of the white powder in 2013 and found it contained nanomaterials — described as tiny engineered substances which can be toxic to humans and the environment because of their small size. According to Danielle Fugers, president of As you Sow, “This is a groundbreaking decision demonstrating strong industry leadership". The list of health problems that early studies have attributed to nanomaterials include DNA and chromosomal damage, organ damage, inflammation, brain damage and genital malformation. A spokesman for Dunkin' claims that titanium dioxide "does not meet the definition of "nanomaterial" outlined under FDA guidance. But said nonetheless it is making the change to remove the chemical from it's donuts.
In February 2015, Nestlé became one of the first major companies to announce plans to remove artificial flavors such as Vanillin and food colourings Red 40 and Yellow 5 from candy bars sold in the USA. Nestle is the first major candy maker to make the commitment. Meanwhile, Hershey announced in December 2014 that it is looking at replacing high-fructose corn syrup in its candy with sugar while Mars had talked of replacing food dye in M&Ms with natural colourings.
Brands are increasingly embracing the digital world to facilitate online and mobile access to more transparent product and company data including their business practices and more detailed product information such as nutrition and allergen details, product sources as well as sustainability and traceability data.
An interesting example of this trend can be seen on the progressive app. from McDonalds called “trackmymaccas”. See below YouTube video:http://trackmymaccas.com/trackmymac_fb/
According to Euromonitor, consumption in 2015 can be viewed as a “route to progress”. They highlight that this idea has emerged several times in recent years, notably in the green consumption arena, and is resurfacing both in terms of “expression through product consumption and corporate social responsibility choices”. Accordingly, brands are now keener to align themselves with changing the world for the better, picking up on consumer interest and public pressures in a more caring consumption style.
In essence, the big food companies are listening now and some have started to take positive action. Responding to demands for natural ingredients and more transparency in their supply chains, companies such as McDonalds have responded recently with positive corporate commitments.
McDonald’s USA plans to stop sourcing Chicken that came from farms using human antibiotics. This move came amid growing concerns about increased infections in humans caused by bacteria that have become resistant to common antibiotics. McDonalds will also stop sourcing milk products from farms where cows were treated with artificial growth hormones.
Dunkin’ Brands Group will remove titanium dioxide, a whitening agent and source of nanomaterials from powdered sugar commonly sprinkled on donuts. A not for profit group called As You Sow commissioned laboratory testing of the white powder in 2013 and found it contained nanomaterials — described as tiny engineered substances which can be toxic to humans and the environment because of their small size. According to Danielle Fugers, president of As you Sow, “This is a groundbreaking decision demonstrating strong industry leadership". The list of health problems that early studies have attributed to nanomaterials include DNA and chromosomal damage, organ damage, inflammation, brain damage and genital malformation. A spokesman for Dunkin' claims that titanium dioxide "does not meet the definition of "nanomaterial" outlined under FDA guidance. But said nonetheless it is making the change to remove the chemical from it's donuts.
In February 2015, Nestlé became one of the first major companies to announce plans to remove artificial flavors such as Vanillin and food colourings Red 40 and Yellow 5 from candy bars sold in the USA. Nestle is the first major candy maker to make the commitment. Meanwhile, Hershey announced in December 2014 that it is looking at replacing high-fructose corn syrup in its candy with sugar while Mars had talked of replacing food dye in M&Ms with natural colourings.
Brands are increasingly embracing the digital world to facilitate online and mobile access to more transparent product and company data including their business practices and more detailed product information such as nutrition and allergen details, product sources as well as sustainability and traceability data.
An interesting example of this trend can be seen on the progressive app. from McDonalds called “trackmymaccas”. See below YouTube video:http://trackmymaccas.com/trackmymac_fb/
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