“Zero” in terms of food policy and risk perception

Makiko Matsuo and Hiroshi Yoshikura

Food Policy, 2014, vol. 45, issue C, 132-137

Abstract: In the present article, the concept of “zero” is discussed using three examples, chemical contaminants/residues in foods, radionuclides, and GM foods. These examples share several common features. First, the risk reduction is generally quantified as the “fold” reduction, i.e., risk reduction by twofold, 10-fold, etc., as no other convenient parameters are available. Second, there are situations where “zero” virtually does not exist, such as in the case of toxicants in GM plants or of radionuclides, because the background always exists. Third, assuring “zero” is often impossible on technological and other reasons. This shows the critical importance of understanding and communicating “zero” in terms of food policy.

Keywords: Zero; Food policy; Risk perception; Regulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306919213001164
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:45:y:2014:i:c:p:132-137

DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2013.08.012

Access Statistics for this article

Food Policy is currently edited by J. Kydd

More articles in Food Policy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().