Food Blogging and Ethics

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I started this blog just for fun, and I’ve been extremely flattered at the attention it’s received. Along with the attention, though, have come the product offers.

Usually it’s a marketing firm, acting on behalf of a company, who is looking for someone to send free samples to. They do a few Google searches, find some food blogs (like mine), and offer to send them some crackers or cookies or a box drink or something. The expectation is that the blogger will then write about the product that they’ve been sent, either mentioning it in passing (”Hey, I got this really cool salmon cheese spread from Acme Fish in the mail that went perfect with this dish…), or in a full-out review (”The No Salt Extra Flavour Fat Free Sesame Bar is a wonderful addition to a lunch…).

Now, I realize that 99% of the time, when a firm sends you a product sample you’re under no obligation to review it, or even to mention it. But when I got the first sample offer in my inbox (the first of many!), I struggled long and hard with whether I should accept the sample.

My problem was that if I did accept the product, and I did like the product, and I did write about it, then I would be ethically obligated to mention that I got the product for free. Then, after having mentioned that I got the product at no cost, a positive review would be suspect, even if it was totally heartfelt. After all, there’s a reason why Consumer Reports does not accept free samples.

Now, I have nothing against bloggers who do accept free samples and write about them, provided they fully disclose that they did not pay for the product. A lot of people consider free swag a perk of having a blog. That’s fine. In fact, some people have said that bloggers should accept free samples, and that there’s no ethical problem in doing so. Other people have chimed in with similar responses, and the mantra seems to be: disclose, disclose, be honest, and disclose. Honestly is really the best policy.

After a lot of consideration, though, I decided that I will not accept free product samples now, nor at any time in the future. If I review a product, a food or a restaurant, it was paid for out of my own pocket. Besides, this is not primarilly a review blog: I tend to range all over the map with my topics. So, my answer will be “no!” to the samples; hopefully this (and my amended About page) will help keep my inbox a bit cleaner!

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