Food safety – an introduction
Lecture 35
Economics of Food Markets
Alan Matthews
Lecture objectives
• Why is food safety a growing issue?
• What is the contribution of economists to
the debate on food safety policy?
• The notion of risk
• EU food safety institutions
Reading
• Kinsey overview
Dimensions of food safety
• Three dimensions of food safety (Kinsey)
– Safety from food poisoning
– Safety from poor diets
– Safety from bioterrorism
The scope of food safety regulation
• The wide range of food safety regulation
– Protection of the consumer against
adulteration of food and drink one of the
earliest examples of social legislation
– Sanitary conditions in food preparation,
packaging and handling; pesticide and
hormone residues; packaging materials, food
additives; labelling requirements; weights and
measures legislation
The growing demand for food
safety
• Risks of food-borne diseases have increased
• Economic growth increases consumer demand
for quality attributes generally and food safety in
particular
• Because of changing consumption habits, the
consumer now more dependent on public
authorities for food safety
• Economic studies in US suggest high costs to
food-borne illnesses
Key questions
• Do the benefits of growing food regulation
outweigh their cost? Could we deliver a
particular level of food safety more
efficiently?
• Food safety regulations differ from country
to country, making food law a non-tariff
barrier to trade. When is this legitimate
consumer protection, and when industry
protectionism?
Risk analysis
• The three legs of risk analysis
– Risk assessment
– Risk management
– Risk communication
• To which we can also add
– Control and enforcement
• Now embodied in WTO rules. Implication is that
regulatory decisions based on risk analysis
should be consistent across different aspects of
food safety
Issues arising from risk analysis
• Techniques of risk assessment
• Determination of the acceptable risk standard
• Consumer perceptions of risk often different to
expert assessments
• Consumers may lack confidence in the public
authorities conducting the risk management
• What to do when scientific understanding is
incomplete – the precautionary principle
The EU approach to food safety
regulation
• Totally overhauled following the BSE
debacle in 1996, became the key priority
for the Santer Commission
• Green Paper on Food Law published in
1997 as basis for discussion
• 2000 White Paper on Food Safety
• Implementation overseen by DG SANCO
under Commissioner David Byrne
The EU approach to food safety
regulation
• Risk assessment now undertaken by the
European Food Safety Authority -> scientific
advice
• Risk management based on clear legislation
proposed by Commission and implemented by
Council. Massive overhaul of EU food law
• Risk control – substantial strengthening of the
EU framework for enforcement of food safety
regulations overseen by the Food and Veterinary
Office of the Commission
• Risk communication – responsibility of the EFSA