IEEE Spectrum June, 2013 - 35

overvieW

thE ChECKErEd
history
oF big Ag
Some not-So-Savory
ePiSodeS of toP food
comPanieS

reopening the production line,
the company announced a recall
of another 84 000 kg. The next
summer, Cargill recalled more
than 13 000 kg of bacterially
contaminated ground beef from a
different plant.
ON the OtheR haND:
The Margaret A. Cargill Foundation,
established in 2006 after the death
of Margaret Cargill (a grandchild
of founder William Wallace Cargill)
is one of the largest charitable
foundations in the United States.
Margaret Cargill also reportedly
gave away US $200 million
during her lifetime, almost all of
it anonymously.

nestlé

the development of textured
vegetable protein, which is
used as a meat alternative
and extender in commercial
products and school lunches
and breakfasts.

approximately 6000 brands
worldwide, including
shredded Wheat and
trix cereals; Nescafé,
Nespresso, and taster's
Choice coffees; Deer Park,
Perrier, Poland spring,
and san Pellegrino bottled
waters; Dreyer's, edy's,
häagen-Dazs (North america
and United kingdom); Buitoni,
DiGiorno Pizza, Lean Cuisine,
stouffer's, tombstone
Pizza; and near-countless
chocolates and candies
including Nestlé, Rowntree,
and Wonka products.
DaRk Days: Perhaps taking
Henri Nestlé's original corporate
goal of feeding infants with
modified milk too much to heart,
during the 1950s, '60s, and
'70s the company aggressively
marketed infant formula in
developing countries, where clean
water and refrigeration were not
generally available and family
budgets often did not support
feeding infants enough formula
to survive.
ON the OtheR haND:
As part of the deal whereby
Ruth Wakefield's Toll House
Cookie recipe came to be printed
on every bag of Nestlé semisweet
chocolate chips, the company
promised her a lifetime supply
of chocolate.

monsanto co.
archer daniels
midland co.
Major producer of highfructose corn syrup. Most of
its brands are industrial, but
it has a few brands aimed at
consumers, including Casa
Refried Beans, Merckens
chocolate, and Nutrasoy.
DaRk Days: In 1997, ADM
agreed to pay a US $100 million
fine to the U.S. Department of
Justice for its participation in
commodities price fixing during
the early 1990s. The company
had been fined for price fixing
and other violations before, but
this time three top executives,
including vice chairman and then
heir apparent Michael Andreas,
were sentenced to federal prison.
Other countries levied additional
fines of almost $50 million.
ON the OtheR haND:
ADM was instrumental in
iLLUstRatiONs By

James Provost

cargill
Major brands include Diamond
Crystal salt, truvia natural
sweetener, honeysuckle White
turkey, shady Brook Farms
turkey, sterling silver premium
meats, angus Pride Beef,
Purina, and Robin hood Flour.
DaRk Days: In August
2011, Cargill Meat Solutions
Corp. announced it was recalling
ground turkey products produced
during the prior six months
at its Springdale, Ark., plant.
The meat, contaminated with
antibiotic-resistant salmonella,
amounted to 16 million kilograms.
The following month, after

Ready plants that had appeared
on his land and planted the seeds
in another field, Monsanto sued
him for patent infringement and
won a low-dollar judgment in the
Canadian Supreme Court. But
later the company paid Schmeiser
for the cost of removing additional
herbicide-resistant plants that
were growing on his land.

the most important brands
are the herbicide Roundup and
Roundup Ready seeds, which
are resistant to Roundup and
can grow even in the presence
of huge quantities of it.
DaRk Days: The nearly
universal use of Roundup in
the United States has been
blamed for the appearance of
"superweeds" resistant to the
herbicide. Previously, Monsanto
acquired research that ultimately
led to a patent for the "terminator
gene," which would cause all
seeds produced by a plant to
become sterile; molecular biology
would therefore enforce licenses
that forbid farmers to save seed
from one season for replanting
in the next. After public outcry,
in 1999 Monsanto disclaimed any
intention to put the gene into use.
But in 2006 Monsanto acquired
Delta & Pine Land, a company that
had patented and vowed to market
terminator seeds.
ON the OtheR haND:
After Canadian farmer Percy
Schmeiser harvested Roundup
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum June, 2013
