Cynical standards

There is nothing wrong with a business pursuing profit. Yet, if nothing but expediency matters, both the interest of the public and reputation of the business may suffer.

When biscuits produced by German's Metro Group and cakes by Japan's Shanghai Ezaki Glico Foods Co were found to contain genetically modified (GM) ingredients last week, suspicion was aroused that the two companies have a different standard for their Chinese customers as both have pledged to their domestic consumers never to use GM ingredients.

It is not the first time that transnational firms use a double standard for their Chinese customers.