What Is In My Food / On My Skin?
In My Food / On My Skin, or human health risks, of a corporation’s products are important factors for corporations to enhance shareholder value, public health, and the environment.
How Does Health Appear In Proxy Voting?
Companies have been held more accountable to external public health implications related to their products. Topics include pesticide and antibiotic use in our food, chemicals in our body care, and the intentional marketing towards junk food sales.
Recent Health Examples
- Pepsi faced shareholders asking the company to publish a report on external public health effects of their products. Supported by the idea that many underlying health conditions suspected of making people vulnerable to the pandemic are also associated with elevated dietary intake of sugar: obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and chronic kidney and liver diseases (5/21).
- One third of every bite of food we eat is dependent on pollinators; and pollinator species are declining at alarming rates in significant part due to the use of toxic pesticides on farms. Major food companies are taking action to reduce and report on pesticide risk including ADM (5/22).
Shareholder Impact On Health
Johnson and Johnson decided to discontinue sales of talcum-based powder but only in North America. This ingredient is used in many cosmetics, including baby powder and blush. Many shareholders believe this powder contains harmful contaminants while it is still being marketed and sold globally. This year 62% of J&J shareholders agreed the company should conduct a racial equity audit based on their marketing to diverse women globally (4/22).
