Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Food ethics is a branch of applied ethics that deals with a wide range of issues related to the production, distribution and consumption of food. In addition to providing nourishment, food has relevance for the moral character of our lives, for our obligations to others, to animals and to natural environments. As food-manufacturing becomes increasingly industrialized, food and food ethics also become increasingly bound up with food science and technology. Several issues highlight the moral dimensions of food, science and technology, and policy. Nearly 2 million people die each year, mostly children, from food- and water-borne diseases as a result of unsafe food production, processing, preparation and distribution. Technologies play a pivotal role in ensuring safety. They are needed to keep food and water clean, to cook food thoroughly, to keep food at safe temperature, to extend shelf life, and reduce spoilage and contamination. Food safety is important for ensuring the nutritional quality of food, preventing food-borne disease, health hazards, and for preventing malnutrition and starvation. Proper food safety management is vital to public health, human welfare and economic development. The responsibility for ensuring food safety is shared not only by producers and consumers but also by policy-making institutions. Local, national and international institutions can play a crucial ... log in or subscribe to read full text