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Asymmetric information—Cases in which the seller knows relevant
information about a product that the buyer does not know. In cases of
asymmetric information, resources are used less efficiently than with
perfect, symmetric information.
BSE—Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
(BSE) is a chronic progressive degenerative
disease affecting the central nervous system of cattle. There is
no treatment, and affected cattle die. BSE is classified as a transmissible
spongiform encephalopathy (TSE). BSE was first officially
recognized in the United Kingdom (UK) in November 1986.
Campylobacter—Foodborne bacteria that cause
the human illness campylobacteriosis.
Campylobacteriosis—An illness in humans caused by Campylobacter jejuni or C. coli. Campylobacteriosis ranges from
a mild illness with diarrhea lasting a day, to severe abdominal
pain, and severe diarrhea (sometimes bloody), sometimes accompanied
by fever, occasionally lasting for several weeks. The incubation
period for most cases is 2 to 5 days, and the illness usually lasts
from 2 to 10 days, depending on its severity. Although the illness
is generally regarded as a relatively mild disease, death can occur
in some cases, especially for the very young, very old, or immunocompromised.
A small percentage of cases develop Guillain-Barré Syndrome.
Clostridium perfringens—C. perfringens intoxication typically occurs 6 to 24 hours after ingestion of food
that bears large counts of this bacteria. The illness in humans
is frequently a mild gastrointestinal distress, lasting only about
a day. Deaths are uncommon.
Consumer price index (CPI)—A measure of the average
change in prices over time in a fixed “market basket” of goods and services purchased either by urban wage earners and
clerical workers or by all urban consumers.
Contingent valuation method—The use of surveys of individuals
to elicit their preferences, measured in monetary terms (willingness
to pay, or WTP), for a specified improvement in their health outcomes.
It circumvents the absence of markets for health outcomes by presenting
survey respondents with hypothetical markets in which they are asked
their WTP for the improvement in question.
Cost-of-illness (COI) method—An approach
that is used to estimate the societal costs of a particular illness
or injury in a given time frame (typically a 1-year period). The
approach typically focuses on two main types of societal costs associated
with the particular illness or injury: direct medical and non-medical
costs and indirect costs of lost productivity due to morbidity or
premature mortality.
Direct costs*—Costs associated
with resources expended for health care (compare with indirect costs).
Does not include lost wages—see productivity loss and indirect
costs.
Discounting*—A method for adjusting
the value of future costs and benefits to an equivalent value today
to account for time preference and opportunity cost, that is, a
dollar today is worth more than a dollar a year from now (even if
inflation is not considered).
Discount rate—A rate used in determining a present
value equivalent of a future stream of dollars. The lower the discount
rate, the higher the present value of a future stream of dollars.
Disutility costs—Costs include
all the factors leading to the diminished well-being of a patient
due to illness or premature death. Disutility costs of illness typically
measure the amount of money (or another measure of well-being) the
average patient would be willing to give up to avoid an illness
or premature death (such as lower wages received for low-risk jobs).
Disutility may include a wide range of costs, including those for
pain and suffering, inconvenience, time lost from regular activities,
and productivity losses.
Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157(Shiga-toxin produced)—Foodborne
bacteria that cause the human illness, STEC O157 disease.
STEC O157 disease—Usually a mild gastrointestinal
illness that occurs 3 to 5 days after eating contaminated food.
Severe complications, however, can arise. Hemorrhagic colitis is
distinguished by the sudden onset of severe abdominal cramps, little
or no fever, and diarrhea that may become grossly bloody. Although
less than 5 percent of E. coli O157 disease cases develop
hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), it is a severe, life-threatening
illness. HUS is a disease characterized by red blood-cell destruction,
kidney failure, and neurological complications, such as seizures
and strokes. Most HUS cases are children under 5 years old, although
the feeble elderly may also be at risk.
Non-O157 STEC—Strains of E.
coli bacteria that produce the same toxin as STEC 0157 and cuase similar types of illness.
Non-O157 STEC disease—Usually
a mild gastrointestinal illness that occurs 3 to 5 days after eating
contaminated food. Severe complications, however, can arise. Hemorrhagic
colitis is distinguished by the sudden onset of severe abdominal
cramps, little or no fever, and diarrhea that may become grossly
bloody. Although less than 5 percent of E. coli O157 disease
cases develop hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), it is a severe, life-threatening
illness. HUS is a disease characterized by red blood-cell destruction,
kidney failure, and neurological complications, such as seizures
and strokes. Most HUS cases are children under 5 years old, although
the feeble elderly may also be at risk.
Economies of scale—Ability of a larger plant to produce
at a lower cost a product that is identical to one produced in a
smaller plant.
Economies of scope—Ability of a manufacturing plant
to produce at least two products at lower costs than it could produce
a single product.
Externality—A situation in which action of one economic
agent affects the utility or production possibilities of another
in a way that is not reflected in the marketplace.
FoodNet—The Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance
Network (FoodNet) is the principal foodborne disease component of
CDC’s Emerging Infections Program (EIP). FoodNet is a collaborative
project of the CDC, nine EIP sites (California, Colorado, Connecticut,
Georgia, New York, Maryland, Minnesota, Oregon, and Tennessee),
the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA). The project consists of active surveillance
for foodborne diseases and related epidemiologic studies designed
to help public health officials better understand the epidemiology
of foodborne diseases in the United States.
Food Safety Consortium—The Food
Safety Consortium consists of researchers from the University
of Arkansas, Iowa State University, and Kansas State University.
The Consortium was established by Congress in 1988 through a special
Cooperative State Research Service grant. The Consortium’s charge
is to conduct extensive investigation into all areas of poultry,
beef, and pork meat production, from the farm to the consumer's
table. Each of the university members of the Consortium is primarily
performing research associated with the specific animal species
for which that university is uniquely qualified: University of Arkansas,
poultry; Iowa State University, pork, and Kansas State University,
beef.
Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS)—An autoimmune
reaction of the body that affects the peripheral nerves and causes
weakness, paralysis, and occasionally death.
Hedonic wage studies—Statistical analyses that estimate
the effect of intrinsic job characteristics, such as health risks,
fringe benefits, or autonomy, on pay.
Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS)—A disease characterized
by kidney failure and neurological failure. HUS especially strikes
children under 5 years of age and the immunocompromised elderly.
Hemorrhagic colitis—A clinical syndrome manifested
by bloody inflammation of the colon. This syndrome can be the result
of several diseases, including E. coli O157:H7.
Human capital approach—A method for estimating the
impact of an individual's illness or premature death on society
by measuring the discounted value of his/her productivity loss (labor
earnings) due to morbidity or premature mortality.
Indirect costs*—The resources
forgone either to participate in an intervention or as the result
of a health condition (such as earnings forgone because of loss
of time from work).
Industry concentration—The share of production output
controlled by a certain number of the largest firms in an industry.
Economists generally use four-firm concentration ratios.
Irradiation—Irradiation damages or destroys living cells (i.e., pathogens) that might be present in food products. Depending on the type of food and radiation dosage, irradiation can be used to sterilize packaged food for storage at room temperature, eliminate or reduce pathogens, delay spoilage, control insect infestations, delay ripening, and inhibit sprouting.
Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (JIFSAN)—JIFSAN was established between the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) and the University of Maryland (UM) in April 1996. The Institute
is a jointly administered, multidisciplinary research and education
program and includes research components from the FDA Centers for
Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) and Veterinary Medicine
(CVM), and UM.
Listeria—Foodborne bacteria that cause the human
illness listeriosis.
Listeriosis—A gastrointestinal illness in humans caused
by Listeria. Illness caused by the bacterium, Listeria
monocytogenes, may be either mild or severe. Milder cases are
characterized by a sudden onset of fever, severe headache, vomiting,
and other influenza-type symptoms. Severe cases can result in meningitis,
chronic illness, and death. Listeriosis may appear mild in healthy
adults and more severe in fetuses, the elderly, and the immunocompromised.
Women infected with Listeria during pregnancy may transmit
the infection to the fetus, possibly leading to spontaneous abortions
or babies born with visual, mental, or other problems. Outbreak
data show that the incubation period ranges from 3 to 70 days.
Net present value (NPV)*—The
sum that results when the discounted value of the costs of a prevention
or intervention strategy is deducted from the discounted value of
the benefits of the strategy.
Opportunity costs*—The monetary
value of the resources used in providing a specific set of health-care
services, valued in terms of forgone alternative uses.
Pathogen—A disease-causing agent, such as a certain
bacterium, parasite, virus, or fungus.
Present value—The discounted value of either the stream
of costs of a program or the benefits of a program over a specified
time horizon. This is reported in today's dollars.
Productivity loss—The monetary value of output that
would have been produced in the absence of an illness, disability,
injury, morbidity, or premature mortality.
Reiter’s syndrome—Inflammation of the joints and sometimes
the eyes and urinary tract. Reiter's syndrome (a form of reactive
arthritis) typically lasts for 6 weeks and can go on to develop
other rheumatoid syndromes, such as rheumatoid arthritis. Reactive
arthritis is seen equally in females and males, and sometimes in
children. Almost all sexually acquired Reiter's syndrome cases are
seen in males aged 20-40 years.
The Risk Assessment Consortium (RAC)—RAC consists of representatives from all of the U.S. Government agencies
with food safety responsibilities (FDA, USDA, EPA, CDC, National Marine Fisheries Service,
National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense). Through the RAC, the agencies work
to enhance communication and coordination among the member agencies
and promote the conduct of scientific research that will facilitate
risk assessments.
Risk premium—The increased wage needed to attract workers
to riskier jobs.
Salmonella (nontyphoidal)—Foodborne bacteria
that cause the human illness salmonellosis.
Salmonellosis—An illness in humans caused by Salmonella (nontyphoidal). Common symptoms are nausea, diarrhea, stomach pain,
and sometimes vomiting. Although the illness is generally regarded
as a relatively mild disease, death can occur in some cases, especially
for the very young, very old, or immunocompromised. Salmonellosis
usually appears 6 to 74 hours after eating contaminated food and
lasts for a day or two.
Societal perspective*—The perspective of society as a whole. Economic analyses typically take a societal perspective to include all benefits of a program regardless of who receives them, and all costs regardless of who pays them.
Staphylococcus aureus—S. aureus intoxications
occur usually within 1 to 6 hours following consumption of the toxins
produced by the bacteria, but it may occur within 30 minutes. Illness
caused by S. aureus enterotoxin is characterized by severe
nausea, vomiting, cramps, and diarrhea. Although the illness generally
does not last longer than 1 or 2 days, the severity of the illness
may indicate the need for hospitalization.
Steam Pasteurization—A technology used to kill bacteria
on the surface of cattle and hog carcasses by using steam to briefly
raise the carcass surface temperature to kill pathogens. It occurs
after the evisceration stage but before final cooling.
Toxoplasma gondii—A protozoan parasite that
causes the illness toxoplasmosis, which may be manifested in mild
flu-like symptoms. Most people infected with the parasite do not
have any symptoms. People vary in their risk of getting sick from
this parasite. People with suppressed immune systems, such as AIDS
and cancer patients, face higher risks. One outbreak associated
with undercooked meat indicates that the incubation period ranges
from 10 to 23 days. Women infected with T. gondii during
pregnancy may transmit the infection to their fetus, possibly leading
to stillbirths or babies born with birth defects ranging from hearing
or visual impairments to mental retardation.
Vibrio—Members of the Vibrio genus of bacteria
are responsible for several distinct illnesses. V. cholerae is the cause of epidemic cholera. V. parahaemolyticus and
other marine Vibrios may cause gastroenteritis following the consumption
of contaminated fish or shellfish, with symptoms including diarrhea,
abdominal cramps, nausea, and vomiting. V. vulnificus may
cause severe or fatal illness in persons who eat contaminated raw
shellfish, depending on the health status of the affected individual.
Healthy individuals may experience gastroenteritis within 16 hours
of infection, but persons with chronic liver disease may be affected
by a syndrome known as primary septicemia, resulting in septic shock
and death in about half of all cases.
Willingness to pay (WTP)—A measure
of the value an individual would place on reducing risk of death
or illness. It is the maximum dollar amount the individual would
be willing to give up in a given hypothetical risk-reducing situation.
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* These terms are from Haddix, A. C., S. M.
Teutsch, P. A. Shaffer, and D. O. Duñet (eds.). Prevention
Effectiveness: A Guide to Decision Analysis and Economic Evaluation.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1996 (definitions may have been
adapted).
** These terms are from the World Health
Organization website.
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