Last month, Oxfam, the international aid organization, launched a campaign called "Behind the Brands." The goal is to assess the transparency of the world's 10 biggest food and beverage companies concerning how their goods are produced, and to rate their performance on sensitive issues like the treatment of small-scale farmers, sustainable water and land use, climate change and exploitation of women.
Consumers have an ethical responsibility to be aware of how their food is produced, and the big brands have a corresponding obligation to be more transparent about their suppliers, so that customers can make informed choices about what they are eating. In many cases, the biggest food companies themselves do not know how they perform on these issues, betraying a profound lack of ethical responsibility.
Nestle scored highest on transparency, as they provide information on at least some of their commodity sources and audit systems. But even its rating is only "fair." General Mills was at the bottom of the ranking.