Food Ethics Education by Rui Costa & Paola Pittia

Author:Rui Costa & Paola Pittia
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

6.4.2 Contents

It is recognized as the main impact of any actor and activity carried out within the food supply chain on the public health and well-being. Thereby, a general ethical approach and a professional integrity are, thus expected by any individual operating in this sector with the main reference to the respect of public laws, the correct control of the food processes to assure quality and safety of the products and the commitment to guarantee food for all (food security). Furthermore, any activity should be aimed to limit the impact of the food production chain on our society and environment and overall to improve the sustainability of the food value chain and to contribute to a responsible innovation.

These concepts have been differently implemented in the existing CoE of the food technology sector depending on the aims of the organization, institute, or public entity. Differences could be evidenced regarding the model used (brief, principle, etc.) as well as on how the contents have been developed and described.

For the scope of this chapter, the date/time of issue of the document was considered as a possible criterion to analyze any change of values and principles of the food sector during the years that may have led, in turn, to changes in the CoE approaches and corresponding guidelines and contents and/or to compare different versions and updates. However, the available references did not allow to obtain all the corresponding information, and thus this analysis is referred only to the current documents available to the public at the time of writing of this chapter.

The IFST (2017b) and the Italian Food Technology professional order (2017) have a Code of Professional Ethics based on a relationship model, and their document includes a series of titles and articles to regulate the professional behavior and relationship with colleagues, customers, and impact on the society.

In the IFST’s CoE, the duties are described in 10 guidelines with the following titles: Wholesomeness of food, Relation with the media, Confidentiality of information, Conflicts involving professional ethics, Duties towards subordinates, Scientific issues and food promotion, Responsibilities towards students, Responsibilities to the environment, Members business interests, and Responsibility to the profession and the institute. This model complies with the role of this organization and the official recognition of the profession in the country.

The CoE of the Italian Order of Food Technologists, besides a preamble and a closing part, includes 33 articles categorized under three sessions with the following titles: Relationship with the other professionals, Relationship with the customers, and Relationships with the public and society.

Other organizations, like IUFOST and IFT, have adopted a brief model, and the document includes only general statements that the adhering members of these organizations shall respect.

The compliance of the professional activity of the food technologists to ethical principles of conduct is of main importance when society, environment, and consumers are taken into account. In general, these arguments are all included in all the CoE here considered, with some differences among them in terms of the relative importance of the various aspects and/or how their specific guidelines are detailed.

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