PRODUCT SAFETY AND LIABILITY

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Product Safety

A product is deemed safe when it can perform the intended function without causing damage to any living/nonliving
entity.

Safety of a product is ensured by the manufacturers in the following ways:

 Addressing safety concerns in product design
 Ensuring manufacturing excellence
 Adhering to standards and regulations
 Testing and certifications
 Stringent quality checks
 Superior supply chain

Product Liability

Any product that malfunctions and harm the consumer makes the seller/manufacturer liable for the damage caused. There
are laws and regulations to ensure that the consumer gets compensated for the loss. Apart from the legal perspective, a
manufacture is expected to be socially responsible and ensure the safety of consumers
Legal and Ethical Issued Relating to Product Safety

Laws that govern the product and its specification can be bases on 
Product Safety : 
Ability of the product to be safe to the consumer for intended use. Manufacturer should adhere to the standards and laws
that govern the safety of the product in a industry.

Regulations: 
The administrative agencies which enforce the safety standards and rules of the product which comes under their
industry.

Eg: FSSAI, FDA

Litigations: 
Is the legal actions taken after the product safety is failed. It can sometimes prevent the injury to the consumer from the
product by creating motivation to invest in preventive action rather that defect repair or paying the penality.

Environmental Aspects: Organizations activities, products and service which leaves an potential impact on the
environment. Many businesses are adopting ESG practices to reduce their carbon foot prints, planting more trees.
Maggie Two Minute Noodles-
Corporate Responsibility towards Consumers

• CSR is one of the most widely used term in the Corporate world.
• Still the in maintaining the product Safety , being responsible to the consumers are the companies still giving priority as required?

• One such case of violation of the product safety was reported by food safety regulators from the Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh that
samples of Maggi Noodles had high levels of monosodium glutamate (MSG) apart from high lead content above the permissible level.

•  FSSAI ordered to recall the nine variants of Maggi noodles available in Market terming them as Unsafe and  hazardous for human
consumption

• The  then Nestle CEO reiterated by saying “ we apply same quality standards and methods in world in India too and that their product is
safe”

• Even though Nestle has recalled its products, Maggie controversy has given our lawmakers to revisit the entire Consumer Protection Act
and ensure that the concept of Product Liability is incorporated in the Act.
 Is Product
Safety Really
Click to add text
Taken into
consideration
?
3. Aerated/soft drinks companies always have this issue where, though legally accepted, is it ethically the right thing to
do? 

When these products were introduced to the market, healthy living was not a topic of concern, however, with the same
standards (acid regulators, sugar, etc.) by the food & beverage regulatory authorities provided by them ages ago, these
companies still continue in business. However, these days, is it really ethical to continue such beverages without making
necessary changes is always a question. We have seen many issues pertaining to local water body contamination and
depletion by few of such companies. Though there are many changes in this context from regulatory bodies, it is like
being sad after having a disaster. Preventive measures are now evolving. However, the one’s happened in past is still
something lost for ever.

Health safety of soft drinks: contents, containers, and microorganisms - PubMed (nih.gov) (different articles show
different hazards to health)
The Opioid Crisis

• Opioids were used only for extremely serious cases, cancer patients or terminally ill patients

• Pharma companies extensively marketed synthetic opioids and their addictiveness was downplayed. Mis branding
and deception led to the US opioid crisis whose effects we see even today

• Legal Implications: More than half of the US states have sued the company. 2600 lawsuits estimated settlement
around $10 billion

• Ethical responsibility: The companies failed on this front as they continued to push for the sale of opioids in-spite of
seeing first-hand and being aware of the overdose deaths and addiction levels

• The company ignored both ethical and legal obligations for profit

• The need to maintain balance between profits and ethics is high, especially in the medical field