Butterfinger Essay Research Paper I Introduction Since

Butterfinger Essay, Research Paper

I. Introduction Since January 1997, there are a lot of discussions about Nestl , the biggest food manufacturer in Europe, and genetically engineered food. Greenpeace stated German consumers cannot be sure anymore what they eat since plenty of products of the Swiss company Nestl are made abroad, such as Quality Street, Nuts, Lion. That means that Nestl cannot guarantee that these products are not genetically modified. The foreign subsidiaries of Nestl did not mention anything about their usage of gene-manipulated ingredients, neither did the German company. In August 1998, Nestl announced that they are going to bring the first genetically manipulated chocolate from USA, named Butterfinger , to the German market in September 1998. This chocolate contains genetically modified maize and on the package of this chocolate should be a very little reference to the gene-manipulated ingredient. On 30th August 1998, the first chocolate found German gas-stations did not have any hint to this on the package.This paper will discuss if Nestl acts(ed) ethically concerning their consumer production and marketing. To analyse this problem, firstly there will be a short overview about the subject genetically engineered food . Furthermore, the Nestl case will be presented following an analysis on the ethical issues involved with this case with help of several ethical concepts. Finally, a conclusion will be given. II. Genetically Engineered Food What is genetic engineering.Genes are the blueprints for every part of an organism. Genetic engineering is the process of artificially modifying these blueprints. By cutting and splicing DNA-genetic surgery-genetic engineers can transfer genes specific to one of organism into any other organism on earth. Scientists want to transfer desirable qualities from one organism to another, for example, to make crop resistant to an herbicide or to enhance food value.Is it necessary. Closer examination reveals that commercial and political motives are taking precedence with little regard to the possible dangers. The world has already the ability to feed the population without the risks posed by genetic engineering. Dangers of genetically engineered food.Because living organisms are highly complex, genetic engineers cannot possibly predict all of the effects of introducing new genes into them. Nevertheless, there are some dangerous fact mentioned in specific magazines, such as the fact that genetically engineered products carry more risks than traditional foods. That means that the process of genetic engineering can thus introduce dangerous new allergens and toxins into foods that were previously naturally safe. Already, one genetically engineered soybean was found to cause serious allergic reactions, and bacteria genetically engineered to produce large amounts of the food supplement have been suspected to produce toxic contaminants that killed 37 people and permanently disabled 1,500 more. Furthermore, unlike chemical or nuclear contamination, genetic pollution is self-perpetuating. It can never be reserved or cleaned up; genetics mistakes will be passed on to all future generations of a species. III. The Nestl Butterfinger case -are they acting ethical. When Nestl announced to enter the German market with the first genetically engineered chocolate bar in September 1998 a wave of opponents of genetically engineered food in Germany wrote letters to Nestl and started to engage heavier in organised groups and campaigns to demonstrate against genetically manipulated food production. Nestl react with a public letter to all the opponents but hold on to their position to be the first big food manufacturer in Germany to offer these products. They stated that their biggest target group are youngsters and kids since they do not worry about gene-manipulation. Further they mentioned already in the last decade that from now on any member of the distribution channel of food has to face the possibility that genetically manipulated maize will be an ingredient in the end product since a lot of ingredients came from other countries. Therefore, it would be impossible to guarantee non-manipulated food. Actually, this statement is not correct since Greenpeace and other health concerned organisations and groups could prove that, for example, Ferrero is able to produce genetically free candies. In August 1998, the manager of Nestl Germany, Hans Gueldenburg, assured that they will clearly mark manipulated products on their packages if they are genetically modified. In September 1998, just as announced, Butterfinger was offered in German stores. Greenpeace found some of the first in German gas stations but they were not typified. On the 1st of September 1998, the decision of the European ministry to typify gene-manipulated products was empowered and typifying was legally required. This resolution did not stop the problem. Unfortunately, it is impossible to read these references on the packages due to the fact that the writing is extremely small. Furthermore, the requirement made by the ministry just says that the products have to be typified if only the end product contains manipulated substance or protein. All additional substances, e.g. Lecithin, do not belong to this definition and products that include just slightly engineered substances do not have to be marked. That means that consumers buy products without knowing whether they are manipulated or not. Even if t