Consumer Groups Harness Power of Social Media to Influence Food Industry

A recent New York Times article highlights how groups such as the Center for
Science in the Public Interest as well as individual consumers have harnessed
the power of social media to bring their concerns directly to food companies.
Titled “Social Media as a Megaphone to Pressure the Food Industry,” the article
describes several instances in which consumer-backed petitions circulated
on Facebook, Twitter or other platforms have purportedly influenced food
company policies, resulting in product reformulations or labeling changes.

Speaking with one spokesperson for Kraft Foods Group, Times writer Stephanie
Strohm specifically notes that one of the challenges facing companies
“when confronted by consumers demanding change is getting them to
understand how complicated that change can be … Food companies must
work with suppliers to determine what’s possible, then supplies have to
make the new ingredient in bulk.” These changes can also involve regulators
if replacement ingredients require approval for new applications. “Instead of
relying on a P.R. firm, you have analytical tools to quantify how big an issue it
is and how rapidly it’s spreading and how influential the people hollering are,”
one consultant was quoted as saying. “Then you can make a decision about
how to respond. It happens much more quickly.” See The New York Times,
December 30, 2013.

Issue 509