The Direct and Indirect Costs of Food-Safety Regulation

Abstract

The compliance costs of the Pathogen Reduction Hazard Analysis Critical Control Program (PRsHACCP) rule have been controversial. Previous reports have used limited data to evaluate its overall and component costs. This paper addresses those deficiencies by examining compliance costs with data from a national survey of meat and poultry plants. Results indicate that (a) regulation favors large, more specialized plants over small, diversified ones, (b) private actions incur considerable costs, and (c), except for chicken slaughter, Federally mandated processing tasks are 160-500% more costly than allowing plants to meet standards using whatever food-safety technology they choose. Copyright 2009 Agricultural and Applied Economics Association