When Mim Gaetano first started at Mars, he worked in a pet care factory, where pet food was made, in Wodonga, Victoria. He had only been with the company for a week when he came in early one morning and found a group of senior leaders huddled around a table, looking very concerned and digging through pet food.

He could tell they weren’t happy, so he asked his colleagues, “What happened?”

The night prior, a fluorescent light had exploded in the factory, its glass shattering and spraying across the factory floor. The leaders were worried their product might be contaminated. They debated whether it would be possible to detect the glass but soon concluded that it would be impossible.

With Mars’ Five Principals front of mind—Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency, and Freedom—the leaders quickly decided to throw out the equivalent of a million cans of dog food. They simply couldn’t be sure the product didn’t have glass in it.

The event reinforced Mim and his colleagues’ belief in Mars’ company values. Meanwhile, the senior leaders had covers made for the lights to ensure it wouldn’t happen again.