Food, Consumer Concerns, and Trust: Food Ethics for a Globalizing Market
Author(s)
Brom, Frans W. A.
Abstract
The use of biotechnology in food production gives rise to consumer concerns. The term “consumer concern” is often used as a container notion. It includes concerns about food safety, environmental and animal welfare consequences of food production systems, and intrinsic moral objections against genetic modification. In order to create clarity a distinction between three different kinds of consumer concern is proposed. Consumer concerns can be seen as signs of loss of trust. Maintaining consumer trust asks for governmental action. Towards consumer concerns, governments seem to have limited possibilities for public policy. Under current WTO regulations designed to prevent trade disputes, governments can only limit their policies to 1) safety regulation based upon sound scientific evidence and 2) the stimulation of a system of product labeling. An analysis of trust, however, can show that if governments limit their efforts in this way, they will not do enough to avoid the types of consumer concerns that diminish trust.
