Ethics of Food Recommender Applications

Most food recommender apps lack true personalization: The paper finds that popular Food Recommender Systems in the European market cannot be considered genuinely personalized, which significantly changes which ethical concerns are most relevant—suggesting that even seemingly simple recommendation features raise important ethical questions.

Eight ethical principles should guide food recommendation design: The authors propose specific ethical desiderata for food recommender systems, though the paper indicates these principles need to be tailored to the food context rather than simply borrowed from general AI ethics frameworks.

Transparency about ethical trade-offs is essential: The paper argues that explicit ethical agendas should be clearly explained to users, implying that companies should openly communicate what values their recommendations prioritize (e.g., health vs. convenience vs. sustainability).

Multiple stakeholders must be involved in development: The authors emphasize that a multi-stakeholder approach—including users, health professionals, food producers, and other affected parties—is "indispensable" for ensuring these systems produce long-term benefits for everyone, not just profits for companies.

Food recommendations have real societal implications: By framing food recommender apps as raising "ethical, societal and legal implications," the paper highlights that these systems aren't neutral tools but can influence public health, dietary habits, and consumer behavior in ways that deserve careful ethical scrutiny.