Evaluating US food safety regulations which use benefit and cost information

Abstract

Abstract This chapter highlights some of the key challenges and common themes in economic analyses for US food safety regulations. After a brief overview of economic analyses for US regulations, this chapter discusses three food safety rules which have incorporated the costs of food-borne illnesses in their economic analyses: (i) the 1996 Pathogen Reduction/Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (PR/HACCP) rule for meat and poultry; (ii) the 2000 Salmonella enteritis rule for shell eggs; and (iii) the proposed rule for ready-to-eat (RTE) meat and poultry products (MPPs). One particular focus here is the valuation of premature deaths from food-borne illness because it can be a large component of the total costs of Federal food safety regulations. The discussion explains and illustrates how the economic methodology to handle the valuation of premature death is evolving. The chapter concludes with a forward-looking discussion about private and public incentives to improve food safety.