A Safe Food Supply

Overview

ERS provides analyses of the economic issues affecting 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:

• ERS estimates the human illness costs of foodborne disease to help policymakers identify the magnitude of the societal impact of foodborne disease. In 2000, ERS estimated the cost for five bacterial foodborne pathogens as $6.9 billion.
• ERS analyzes the costs and benefits of programs aimed at improving food safety, providing insight into the least-cost interventions at locations along the food chain.
• ERS has conducted a nationally representative survey of meat and poultry plants on the costs of HACCP regulation and food safety technologies, as well as case studies of pathogen-reducing innovations in the beef industry. More overview...

Related Briefing Room

• Food Safety

Features

Food Safety Innovation in the United States: Evidence from the Meat Industry—Recent industry innovations improving the safety of the Nation's meat supply range from new pathogen tests, high-tech equipment, and supply chain management systems, to new surveillance networks. Despite these and other improvements, the market incentives that motivate private firms to invest in innovation seem to be fairly weak. Results from an ERS survey of U.S. meat and poultry slaughter and processing plants and two case studies of innovation in the U.S. beef industry reveal that the industry has developed a number of mechanisms to overcome that weakness and to stimulate investment in food safety innovation. The report's findings are summarized in a two-page Research Brief. There's also a related Amber Waves article, Savvy Buyers Spur Food Safety Innovations in Meat Processing.

International Trade and Food Safety: Economic Theory and Case Studies—This report examines the conceptual relationships between food safety and international trade and analyzes empirical examples from the meat and poultry, produce, food and animal feed crop, and seafood sectors. The article, Food Safety and Trade: Regulations, Risks, and Reconciliation, in the November 2003 issue of Amber Waves, highlights the findings. There are also summaries available as Food Safety and International Trade—Research Briefs.

Managing for Safer Food: The Economics of Sanitation and Process Controls in Meat and Poultry Plants—Sanitation and process controls raised the costs of producing meat and poultry by about 0.5 percent under food safety standards prior to the 1996 Pathogen Reduction Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (PR/HACCP) rule. There was no benefit, however, in trying to avoid these food safety quality control costs before 1996, since plants with poor performance records were more likely to exit their industry. Estimates also suggest that PR/HACCP raised production costs by about 1 percent, but that benefits of HACCP still outweigh costs. The article, Weighing Incentives for Food Safety in Meat and Poultry, in the April 2003 issue of Amber Waves highlights these findings, showing how more stringent regulation and changes in the marketplace have improved food safety, despite the rise in meat and poultry recalls.

ERS estimated the cost for five bacterial foodborne pathogens as $6.9 billion—In 2000, ERS estimated human illness costs for five bacterial pathogens: Campylobacter, Salmonella (nontyphoidal serotypes only), E. coli O157 and non-O157 STEC, and Listeria monocytogenes.

ERS estimates the economic benefits and costs of HACCP—In 2000, ERS estimated that HACCP benefits would outweigh costs, even for the lowest range of benefits, in combating foodborne diseases caused by four pathogens.

Recommended Readings

Foodborne Illness Jury Trials Have Better Chance of Success, Higher Awards by Identifying Specific Pathogens—Less than a third of the jury verdicts tracked by ERS from 1988-97 awarded compensation to plaintiffs in foodborne illness cases. Plaintiffs who alleged illness from a specific pathogen were more likely to receive compensation (42 percent) than plaintiffs who did not, and the expected award was far higher when a specific pathogen or illness was alleged ($82,333 vs. $4,554). Salmonella was the most frequently cited pathogen, followed by hepatitis (any type).

Food Safety Efforts Accelerate in the 1990's—The developments in food safety policy during the last decade have helped the Nation make progress in the goal of ensuring the safest possible food supply. Changes in regulations governing food production and responses by producers have helped control and reduce risks from microbial pathogens. New research and surveillance efforts have helped us better determine the extent of foodborne illness in the United States and the most important sources of food safety risks. Educational efforts have increased public awareness and enabled consumers to protect themselves from foodborne diseases.

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Recommended Data Products

A Survey of Meat and Poultry Slaughter and Processing Plants—ERS, along with Washington State University, conducted two surveys about food safety technologies and Pathogen Reduction/Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (PR/HACCP) compliance. One survey was answered by 861 meat slaughter and processors, the other by 135 poultry slaughter and processors. The survey queried processors about several facets of their operations: the effects of the PR/HACCP rule on plant operations and costs, plant characteristics, miscellaneous questions, and food safety questions dealing with plant operations, sanitation, equipment, product and environmental testing, and dehiding (cattle slaughter only). Summary results from the survey may be found here, as well as the original survey forms. The report, Meat and Poultry Plants' Food Safety Investments: Survey Findings, is also available.

Foodborne Illness Cost Calculator—This interactive online cost model provides information on the assumptions behind ERS estimates for the cost of foodborne illness and gives you the chance to make alternative assumptions and calculate new estimates. Use the calculator to estimate foodborne illness costs for your State or region, a particular outbreak, or to see how cost estimates would change under different assumptions about disease incidence, outcome severity, and the level of medical, productivity, and disutility costs.

Hamburger Doneness and Consumer Preferences—Provides 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.

Recent Research Developments

Measuring the benefits of safer food—ERS established an extramural research program to measure the benefits of safer food in 1999. Following a competitive selection process, funding from a special appropriation was awarded for two cooperative research agreements to apply state-of-the-art economic analysis to estimate the benefits of improving food safety.

Newsletters

Receive notice via e-mail as the latest ERS research on food safety becomes available by subscribing to our e-mail updates. Be sure to check the "Diet, Health, and Safety " box.

Related Links

NE-165 Regional Research Committee—A regional research project titled "Public Policies, Private Strategies, and Food System Performance."

Foodsafety.gov—The gateway to government food safety information.

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Glossary

Brief definitions of the economic and clinical terms used.