Made in Germany: The Business Magazine

Joining us in the studio will be Ulrich Thielemann, specialist in business ethics. We will be talking to him about the effects of global competition on the food industry. How far should cost-cutting go? Who is responsible and what should be done when supervisory authorities fail to do their jobs?DW-TV: Ulrich Thielemann, a specialist in business ethics. Mr. Thielemann, have you stopped eating pork? Ulrich Thielemann: Yes I do, a little bit....The problem is not a problem right now here, it's if I would eat it for many years. Then there would be a problem. And of course it's wrong that there's dioxin in these foods, of course it's wrong. DW-TV: Who's responsible for this disaster? Ulrich Thielemann: I think market belief and market radicalization is one of the major problems. These companies don't look at what they're doing, they're just looking at profitability. DW-TV: But is that new? Even in the food industry they always want to make a profit. Ulrich Thielemann: Yes, but to want to make a profit is different from maxizing profit. DW-TV: What about the regulators? The government has regulators to make sure food is safe. Ulrich Thielemann: Yes they do but on the other hand they want to make it easier to export so then they lower the standards and this is also a problem. DW-TV: This dioxin scandal is an image disaster for Germany's food and farm industries.How can that image be rebuilt, restored? Ulrich Thielemann: To commit to doing business responsibly. They should do this, which is a global trend by the way. They should do it seriously, not just from a profit notice. DW-TV: 14 million pigs were slaughtered in Germany in one quarter last year!!! That's a huge number. Can consumers really expect that food will be 100% safe when you're dealing with numbers that big? Ulrich Thielemann: Probably they can't but it would be much improved if commitments are taken seriously, if there's good regulation and probably if there's less competition. Interview: Brent Goff