Following a trial in Brazilian court this week, Nestlé corporation was ordered to begin labeling their food products as containing genetically modified ingredients.
Many, if not the majority of Nestlé’s products contain ingredients from genetically modified foods. The Brazilian court ruled that the Swedish corporation be required to label anything containing more than one percent genetically modified ingredients as such. The ruling comes in the wake of Poland banning GMO corn and Peru banning GMOs entirely, further damaging the reputation of genetically modified foods.
The court ruling has spurred conversation all over Facebook and twitter, and has added even further to the debate over the safety of GMO food. The U.S. government has fallen behind in legislating GMOs, but, concerned citizens of California have put Proposition 37 on the ballot for the November election.
If passed in November, Prop. 37 would require genetically modified foods sold within the state of California be labeled as GMOs in order to protect consumers. Concern surrounding the safety of GMOs is at an all-time high, and Nestlé has failed to engage in the conversation – even as their brand has been at the center of the debate, lately.
In fact, some consumers are so concerned about the safety of GMOs companies like Nestlé are selling that they’ve started a campaign to label GMOs in their own supermarkets independently. The movement is called Label it Yourself, and is a call to action asking citizens to print their provided labels and start labeling GMOs themselves, since corporations in the U.S. do not label them.
By choosing not to reveal their ingredients, Nestlé has come under heavy criticism via social media. What you can take from their situation is that transparency and honesty are hugely important to maintaining a positive brand image. Fighting to keep the source of their ingredients a secret and off of labels has proven extremely detrimental for Nestlé’s credibility.
Graph by Alerti
In running your business, is it vital to recognize the importance of transparency in business, how vital it is to engage in a social media dialogue surrounding your brand, and the necessity of monitoring the mentions of your brand in social media using social media monitoring sites. Failure to do so can lead to drop-offs in sales, poor brand image, boycotts of your brand, and even legal action as seen in the Nestlé trial.
Highlights
- Honesty and Transparency in Business
- California’s Prop 37.
- Nestlé’s GMO trial
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