In a recent media article concerning about the business ethics regarding food safety, blog posts by fellow classmates Niki Non, and Lingjie Zhou touches on the epidemic of businesses using unethical business models and shortcuts, which endangers public safety to just to increase profits . Are businesses so concerned about saving a few dollars over the fact that people, in particular babies, may die?

This issue is a difficult one to digest as it makes one wonder, what drives businesses to the point where money is valued more than the well-being of a human, or even a human life? The thought of companies making unethical decisions such as using expired meat or using poisonous chemicals in their food disgusts me as mentioned in Niki’s and Lingjie’s blog post disgusts me.

The most recent article that I have linked above discusses the promotion of food safety in the U.S. Although the article focuses on mishandled food in restaurants, I feel that they should also bring to the attention of corporations who uses non-FDA approved chemicals, foods that contain GMO’s and expired foods. The world needs to come to a realization and to take a stand that our safety must be the absolute top priority.

Sources:

Gold Digger

https://blogs.ubc.ca/moirazhou/

http://www.digitaljournal.com/life/health/usa-national-food-safety-month/article/404635

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-nike-solved-its-sweatshop-problem-2013-5

Nike has been scrutinized for numerous years for its unethical labor practices and some of their recent actions relates to the topic of business ethics. The company has been the prime example of a firm who established their business model from using cheap labor to maximize profits, and they were heavily under fire mainly because of their success and popularity. Nike has recently taken upon “social responsibility” and is actively working towards rebuilding their image to an ethical company. One can argue that Nike is beginning to care about their low-waged workers, however, in the mindset of Milton Friedman; these actions should not be misconstrued as an act for humanity. According to Friedman’s passage The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase Profits, the firms’ only “social responsibility” is focused on maximizing profits and catering to their shareholders in this capitalistic world. So how can one judge Nike? Are they acting in such a way because they have come to a realization that abusing low-waged workers working in dangerous conditions is wrong? Or are they only caring about their real “social responsibility”, which is to continue to increase sales and to keep their stock value up? That answer is up for debate, but for the time being, Nike has rebranded their global image to give the impression that they are “ethical”.