Description
Action Items
In Brazil, the export industry always finds ways to cut costs. The international community expressed its dismay at the manufacturers’ latest cost-cutting decision to replace flouride with diethylene glycol in toothpaste. Flouride is designed to strengthen teeth enamel. Diethylene glycol is a poisonous substance used to make chemicals that are widely used by the automobile industry.
The end product exported from Brazil was poisonous toothpaste that was not labeled to indicate that it contained diethylene glycol. When the poisonous chemical was found in the toothpaste, Costa Rican government officials issued a warning telling consumers to discard the toothpaste. In 2019, a study found that toothpaste containing diethylene glycol was harmless if the chemical concentration was below 15.6 percent. The contaminated toothpaste found in Costa Rica contained levels as high as 5 percent. Costa Rican government officials warned that it was unsafe in any concentration. It is especially harmful for children, as well as those suffering from weakened kidneys.
In July 2020, due to growing concern about the safety of the imported toothpaste, the Costa Rican government banned all manufacturers from using diethylene glycol in toothpaste. Investigators believed that the toothpaste originated from two small manufacturers in the Brazil but the manufacturers denied any wrongdoing.
The contaminated toothpaste was found in five shipping containers but there have not been any confirmed illnesses or deaths from using the contaminated toothpaste.
If you were manufacturing toothpaste and decided to substitute diethylene glycol for glycerin, would you consider it your ethical obligation to tell the consumer?
Submission Instructions
Consider Chapter 2 (Business Ethics). Ethics is the study and practice of decisions about what is good, or right.
Read the attached articles regarding diehtylene glycol.
Diethylene Glycol in toothpastes.pdf
nihms-1880155.pdf
13181_2010_Article_111.pdf
Describing/discus the following:
What ethical obligations does a consumer products manufacturer have to its customers? Why?
Is it ethical for a toothpaste manufacturer to include diethylene glycol in its products without a consumer warning? What about about a consumer notice? Why, or why not?
Should a toothpaste manufacturer be required to advise consumers about the dangers of ingredients in its products? Why, or why not?
Is onus placed on the consumer to determine if there are any toxic ingredients in the toothpaste being used? Why, or why not?
If you were manufacturing toothpaste and decided to substitute diethylene glycol for glycerin, would you consider it your ethical obligation to tell the consumer? Why, or why not?
Explanation & Answer
Attached.
1
Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility: Law Case Study for Brazil
Name
Affiliation
Course
Instructor
Date
2
Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility: Law Case Study for Brazil
Toothpaste manufacturers, part of the more prominent consumer product manufacturers,
have an ethical responsibility to consumers to provide safe, trustworthy, and practical goods
(Kubasek et al., 2019, p. 14). Customers expect manufacturers to produce safe goods that match
their requirements and expectations. Manufacturers must also disclose their components and warn
customers of any dangers or adverse effects, unlike in Brazil, where the manufacturer decided to
change from fluoride in toothpaste manufacturing to diethylene glycol, a chemical used in
automobile industries, and failed to indicate it on the final product. The manufacturer needed to
label it because differ...
Review
Review
