Globalisation:European Food Information Council: Funding and connections
Funding and Connections
EUFIC is supported by companies of the European food and drinks industries, and receives project funding from the European Commission. It is governed by a Board of Directors which is elected from member companies. Current EUFIC members are: Barilla, Cargill, Cereal Partners, Coca-Cola HBC, Coca-Cola, Danone, DSM Nutritional Products Europe Ltd., Ferrero, Kraft Foods, Louis Bonduelle Foundation, McCormick Foods, Mars, McDonald's, Nestlé, Novozymes, PepsiCo, Pfizer Animal Health, Südzucker, and Unilever.[1] This page outlines a few selected case studies of EUFIC funders and controversies that they have been linked to. These case studies draw on food and drinks industry giants such as, Kraft Foods, Coca-Cola, Mars and McDonalds. Each of these examples stand to represent problems for EUFIC's representation as these related companies engage in activities which appear to conflict with EUFIC and in some cases their own social corporate responsibility. Although it can be expected that organisations such as EUFIC will need to receive funding from external sources this raises questions over whether EUFIC'S primary purpose is still being met or whether the influence of these giant external corporate financial powers are jeopardising their goal.
Funders and controversies
Kraft Foods: According to the Organic Consumer Association Kraft Foods was called on to remove genetically engineered (GE) ingredients from their food supplies. Kraft Foods were found to use GE ingredients in many of their products. GE ingredients are suspected to pose not only as threat to human health but also the environment, this lead 'Consumers in more than 250 locations [to] call on Kraft Foods to stop putting human health and the environment at risk'. [2]
'While the scientific consensus is clear, consumers don’t always agree. For example, in the U.S. most people are not concerned about GM foods or ingredients and so we use them in America. On the other hand, in Europe, we know the general public doesn’t want GM ingredients and so we don’t use them there.' [3]
Marketing Gimmick or Whole-Hearted? As environmentally-conscious as Kraft seems to be, their committment to healthy food has been questioned by many organizations including the Sierra Club. Currently, Kraft has shown little effort towards reducing their use of genetically modified ingredients. Many consumers refuse to purchase from them due to their potential to expose consumers to new allergies. Along with this, potentially hazardous pesticides are being used on american farms to support unlabeled GMOs. On the other side of the planet Kraft has altogether stopped using genetically engineered ingredients in their European products due to public demand [4]
Agribusiness giants allow nothing to interfere with profits, safety is off the table, and all negative information is quashed. [5]
Notes
- ↑ "Europeice Website - Homepage", Europeice Website, accessed 10 October 2010
- ↑ "Kraft Hit by Record Number of Protests", Organic Consumers Association, accessed 1 November 2010
- ↑ "Biotechnology and the Use of Genetically Modified Ingredients", Kraft Foods, accessed 1 November 2010
- ↑ Wannen, D., (2010), "Conglomerate Kraft Foods Sets New Standard in Waste Reduction", Triple Pundit, accessed 1 November 2010
- ↑ Lendman, S., (2008), "Potential Health Hazards of Genetically Engineered Foods", Global Research: Centre for Research on Globalization, accessed 1 November 2010
