Enter the ethical matrix

The Food Ethics Council has launched a toolkit for the food industry to help processors make ethical decisions about their businesses.

Many of the factors that people think of as defining an ethical company, such as ethical products and ethical trading, are just part of the bigger picture, explained Tom MacMillan, executive director at the Food Ethics Council. “Ethics is meant to be a rational process and about doing things right,” he told delegates at the Food and Drink Innovation Network’s recent Making Ethical Food Products conference.

At the core of the toolkit is the Ethical Matrix - a decision-making framework, which was created by professor Ben Mepham, the director of the Centre for Applied Bioethics at the University of Nottingham. The toolkit was initially designed for policy makers and has now been tailored for a food business audience.

According to the toolkit, drawing up a grid can enable manufacturers to illustrate how different stakeholders are affected by the company’s practices in terms of health and wellbeing, freedom and fair treatment.

“Knowing your stakeholders and sometimes considering them in the decision-making process can be vital,” said MacMillan. “And by stakeholders I don’t just mean people, but anything affected by your products, such as animals or the environment. Of course, your responsibilities aren’t equal to all shareholders, but they need to be acknowledged.”

The toolkit also encourages firms to take a transparency test, which allows manufacturers see their businesses from the viewpoint of the consumer. “You have to ask: if consumers knew where the food came from, then would they still want it?” said MacMillan.

For more information on the toolkit, visit http://www.foodethicscouncil.org​