Overview
ERS provides analyses of economic issues that affect the safety of the U.S. food supply, including the effectiveness and equity of alternative policies and programs designed to protect consumers from unsafe food. For example:
- ERS estimates the human illness costs of foodborne disease to help policymakers identify the magnitude of the societal impact of foodborne disease. Foodborne illnesses are caused by ingesting bacteria, fungi, parasites, viruses, toxins, or other harmful substances in contaminated food.
- ERS analyzes the costs and benefits of programs aimed at improving food safety, providing insight into the least-cost interventions that can be applied along the food chain.
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Features
The Effects of Avian Influenza News on Consumer Purchasing Behavior: A Case Study of Italian Consumers’ Retail Purchases—How does information about potential health hazards influence food demand? ERS researchers used Italy as a case study to examine consumers’ responses to newspaper articles on avian influenza (bird flu) from October 2004, after reports of the first outbreaks in Southeast Asia, through October 2006, beyond the point at which outbreaks were reported in Western Europe. Larger numbers of newspaper reports on bird flu led to larger reductions in poultry purchases. Most impacts were of limited duration, and all began to diminish within 5 weeks.
 An Online Cost Calculator for Estimating the Economic Cost of Illness Due to Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli (STEC) O157 Infections—Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) O157 is a significant cause of foodborne illness in the United States. ERS estimated the economic cost of illness due to this pathogen—$405.2 million (in 2003 dollars)—using the most recent estimate (1997) of the annual number of STEC O157 cases by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and medical and cost data from the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network.
Did BSE Announcements Reduce Beef Purchases?—Consumers' retail purchases of beef and beef products were examined for evidence that consumers responded to the 2003 U.S. Government announcements of cows infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). ERS researchers constructed weekly estimates of quantities of beef products consumers purchased from 1998 through 2004 using Nielsen Homescan data. While the variance in purchases was large, most could be explained by trend and seasonality. Deviations from established purchase patterns following the BSE announcements varied across beef products, but were limited to no more than 2 weeks in all cases.
Meat and Poultry Plants' Food Safety Investments: Survey Findings—Results from the first national survey of the types and amounts of food safety investments made by meat and poultry slaughter and processing plants since the late 1990s (ERS survey) provide evidence that market forces have worked in conjunction with regulation to promote the use of more sophisticated food safety technologies. From 1996 through 2000, U.S. plants as a group spent about $380 million annually and made $570 million in long-term investments to comply with USDA's 1996 pathogen reduction/hazard analysis critical control point (PR/HACCP) regulation, according to a survey initiated by the Economic Research Service. The U.S. meat and poultry industry as a whole during the same period spent an additional $360 million on food safety investments that were not required by the PR/HACCP rule.
Recommended Readings
Food Safety and Imports: An Analysis of FDA Import Refusal Reports—ERS examined U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) data on import refusals of food into the United States from 1998 to 2004. This report found that import refusals highlight food safety problems in trade and where the FDA has focused its import alerts, examinations, and other monitoring efforts. Some food industries and types of violations may be consistent sources of problems both over time and compared with previous studies. The most violations were found in the vegetable industry (20.6 percent of total violations), fishery and seafood industry (20.1 percent), and fruit industry (11.7 percent). These violations include sanitary issues in seafood and fruit products, pesticides in vegetables, and unregistered processes for canned food products in all three industries.
Country-of-Origin Labeling: Theory and Observation—This report examines the economic rationale behind various claims about the effects of mandatory country-of-origin labeling. Profits motivate firms to innovate and introduce thousands of new food products each year to satisfy consumers' demand. Yet food suppliers have generally not emphasized, advertised, or labeled food with “Made in USA.” The infrequency of “Made in USA” labels on food suggests suppliers do not believe domestic origin is an attribute that can attract much consumer interest. ERS researchers found that suppliers would be able to provide such labels if there were sufficient consumer interest.
Economics of Food Labeling—This report traces the economic theory behind food labeling and presents case studies of Government intervention in labeling (nutrition information and “dolphin-safe” tuna) as well as examples of proposed or pending Government intervention (country-of-origin labeling and labeling of food that is genetically engineered).
Consumer Perceptions of Safety Critical for Food Imports—Highly publicized international food safety incidents may change consumer perceptions about food safety and consumers' food purchasing patterns. In response, some countries have changed their government regulations affecting domestic and/or imported food products. Even after a problem has been resolved regarding the safety of an imported food, consumer perceptions about the implicated food product and about the exporting country's ability to produce safe food may be slow to change, and these perceptions may have a lasting influence on food demand and global trade.
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Recommended Data Products
Foodborne Illness Cost Calculator—ERS estimates of the costs of foodborne illness have been used in regulatory cost-benefit and impact analyses such as the assessment of the HACCP program. The Foodborne Illness Cost Calculator allows users to change the assumptions made by ERS about the number of illnesses, medical costs, and lost productivity due to Salmonella or STEC O157 infections, and then re-estimate the costs.
The Hamburger Doneness and Consumer Preferences data—These data provide information from two 1996 national survey modules on consumer doneness choices, cooking methods, attitudes toward foodborne illness and sensory characteristics of hamburgers, and food safety information sources.
Food Safety Technologies and HACCP Compliance Survey—Two data sets contain the responses by 861 meat slaughter and processing plant operators and 135 poultry slaughter and processing plant managers
to over 60 questions in a 2001 questionnaire on the cost of the Pathogen Reduction Hazard Analysis Critical Control Program (PR/HACCP) rule and food safety technology use in the meat and poultry industries.
Recent Research Developments
Economic Cost of Guillain-Barré Syndrome in the United States—Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is a rare but serious form of temporary paralysis that is triggered by certain infections, including foodborne illness due to Campylobacter jejuni. ERS estimated the annual economic cost of illness due to GBS from all causes to be $1.7 billion (in 2004 dollars), based on data from a national hospital survey, a telephone survey of adult GBS patients, and other sources. The proportion of GBS cases caused by Campylobacter infections is uncertain, but might be as high as 40 percent. (See Frenzen, Paul. 2008. “Economic Cost of Guillain-Barre Syndrome in the United States,” Neurology, 71:14-20).
Economic cost of illness due to STEC O157 infections —A complete description of the updated ERS cost estimate for STEC O157 has been published. Economic cost of illness due to Escherichia coli O157 infections in the United States.
Deaths due to Unknown Foodborne Agents—ERS researchers reviewed the evidence on unknown pathogenic agents transmitted in food because the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that most foodborne illnesses are caused by pathogens that have not yet been identified. ERS researchers also examined the trend in mortality due to unknown causes of gastroenteritis, including unidentified pathogens (P.D. Frenzen. 2003. Mortality due to gastroenteritis of unknown etiology in the United States. Journal of Infectious Diseases 187:441-452.)
New Food Safety Incentives and Regulatory, Technological, and Organizational Innovations—In a one-day workshop at the 2006 American Agricultural Economics Association (AAEA) annual meeting, presentations covered industry actions, innovations in the private and public sectors, and applied case studies of food safety innovations from around the world.
Newsletter
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Related Links
Behavioral
Risk Factor Surveillance System—A multi-state survey that includes
food safety behavior.
Food and Drug Administration—Information for consumers on foodborne illness.
Foodnet Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network—A
periodic survey of food safety behavior as part of a multi-state surveillance
of foodborne illness, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
Gateway to Government Food Safety Information—Information on the National Food Safety Initiative, consumer advice, industry assistance, materials for children, and more.
Food Safety Inspection Service—Information for consumers about ensuring that the Nation's commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products is safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged.
Market Context for BSE—ERS monitors and analyzes cattle markets, the beef industry, food safety, and trade, providing background information and research for perspective on recent events related to BSE.
See all related links…
Glossary
Brief definitions for the technical
economic and clinical terms used.
Image Gallery
Weekly U.S. purchase of fresh beef, 1998-2004.
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