Monsanto's Ethical Controversy

Once a business grows large enough in size to become an entity responsible for thousands of employees, it can be argued that it must also begin to take on a larger responsibility towards society as a whole. The company not only holds an obligation towards the well-being of their growing number of employees, but as their reach and the impact of their actions grow, they must also develop in a way that does not negatively affect the civilization around them. As an employer of as many as 22,500 people in 2015, and with operations based in the Americas, Europe, Australia, Asia Pacific, and Africa, Monsanto can easily fit into the mold of a company with these types of social responsibilities (Monsanto Company, 2016). No stranger to ethical controversy, Monsanto has been accused of acting against the best interests of society in order to benefit financially on multiple occasions. Though these controversies vary greatly on a case by case basis, they all have the same point of origin: Monsanto’s use of biotechnology in order to genetically modify crops. Throughout

Queeny and manufactured the artificial sweetener, saccharin, as its first product (Mahtani, 2015). The business grew slowly at first until Coca Cola began purchasing saccharin in bulk quantities in 1903. Monsanto then began to increase their variety of food additives in production and entered into the pharmaceutical business as well, with the production of aspirin and the antiseptic, phenol. The increased demand for industrial chemicals by domestic companies whose European suppliers had to rebuild as a result of the conflict of World War I allowed Monsanto another opportunity for growth. Monsanto attempted to meet their demand and then, with the acquisition of another chemical company, began production of chemicals like synthetic rubber, various acids and cresol, an ingredient in disinfectants (Mahtani,