The Economics of Safeguarding the U.S. Food Supply

Tanya Roberts and Eileen van Ravenswaay

No 309493, Agricultural Information Bulletins from United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service

Abstract: Recent scientific developments are changing knowledge about risks in the food supply and revolutionizing procedures for controlling those risks. New tests reveal that micro-organisms are a more common cause of foodborne disease than most Americans suspect. New data on widely used chemicals sometimes show levels of residues so low that they were formerly undetectable. Rapid tests may improve monitoring of the critical control points in food production and distribution. The improved testing could trigger legal restrictions. Many food safety policies were adopted before these testing improvements. The challenge is to incorporate this new knowledge into workable food safety policies that take into account the economic costs and benefits of such regulation.

Keywords: Agricultural and Food Policy; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies; Risk and Uncertainty (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 8
Date: 1989-07
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:uersab:309493

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.309493

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