Jørgen Dejgaard Jensen

Food safety information and food demand

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze how news about food‐related health risks affects consumers’ demands for safe food products.Design/methodology/approach – By identifying structural breaks in an econometrically estimated demand model, news with permanent impact on demand is distinguished from news with temporary impact. The Danish demand for pasteurized versus shell eggs is used as an illustrative case.Findings – Negative safety news about one product variety can provide significant stimulation to the demand for safe varieties. Severe negative news about the safety of shell eggs induces a permanent increase in the demand for pasteurized eggs, while more moderate negative news influences demand temporarily and to a lesser extent. There is, however, considerable variation in the response to food safety news across socio‐demographic groups of consumers.Research limitations/implications – The study has focused on the demand for raw eggs. Responses to food safety news may differ across foods. Fu...

Vaccination of poultry against Campylobacter in the EU: what are the economic benefits?

Abstract Campylobacter is the most commonly reported gastrointestinal bacterial pathogen in the European Union (EU) since 2005. Reportedly, 212,064 humans have been confirmed ill in 2010 due to a Campylobacter infection in the EU. The major source of infection, among sporadic human cases is to be found in the food chain, from farm-to-fork, where poultry meat is considered to be one of the major vehicles of Campylobacter infections in humans, accounting for 50–80% of reported cases. One way to reduce this economic loss to society is perhaps the introduction of a new Campylobacter vaccine, which could be administered to one-day old chicks. This would effectively reduce the outbreak of illness among the general population, enhancing general well-being, and increase the efficiency of the employed labor force. In the present paper, we assess the potential economic benefits of a mandatory vaccination program at the EU27 level. In this study, benefits are mainly assumed to comprise lower risk of illness due to Campylobacter infections, and hence increased labor productivity. In the modeled analysis presented in this paper, the possible price of the vaccine is estimated when it is assumed that: (i) the number of reported human campylobacteriosis cases in the EU is reduced by 65%, (ii) an import ban on non-vaccinated chicken meat into the EU is implemented, (iii) an increased preference for EU chicken meat outside the EU increases exports marginally, and (iv) that the aggregate EU welfare has to remain unchanged as measured by the equivalent variation in income. The analysis shows that the benefits to society of such a vaccination program amount to 1.24 eurocents per dose, and about 50% higher, if no import ban is implemented.

Economies of Capacity Use in Decontamination of Pig Carcasses

This article analyzes the economies of capacity use regarding hot water decontamination to reduce postslaughter risk of pathogens in meat, taking interfarm heterogeneities of Salmonella risk and costs of transportation into account, using Denmark as a case study. If risk reduction goals are stated at the processing plant level, then the exploitation of the favorable cost-effectiveness properties of hot water slaughtering requires fairly ambitious risk reduction goals and thus high use of decontamination capacity. If instead risk reduction goals are formulated for the sector as a whole, the cost-effectiveness properties can be exploited even for relatively low-risk reduction goals.

Farm profitability and structural challenges – geographical patterns in the Danish agricultural economy

The objective of the paper is to demonstrate a methodology to establish data for analysing the geographical patterns in the economic performance of farms. The methodology combines population-based agricultural register data on physical activity levels with sample-based farm economic accounts data. Using a least-squares approach, the method estimates economic figures for each farm in the population conditional on farm size, land allocation and number of different types of livestock. The method is used for describing the spatial patterns in economic returns to agriculture, using Denmark as an illustrative example. Economic contribution/hectare is relatively stronger in western parts of the country. This is associated with high livestock density in these areas, but the high livestock density also poses future economic challenges to farms in these areas to a higher extent than in the rest of Denmark.

Design of Economic Incentive Instruments in Nutrition Policy

Economic incentives are instruments to improve diet and reduce the fraction of people exposed to diet-related health risks. Proper targeting and design of economic incentive instruments is important, if such instruments are to be efficient and feasible policy measures for the improvement of dietary practice in industrialized countries. From a cost-effectiveness perspective, there is considerable potential for optimizing the targeting and design of economic incentive instruments in nutritional policy.

Economics of Food Consumption, Nutrition and Health

In most developed countries, there is a considerable concern for the health consequences related to food and lifestyle. Diseases like obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer are all related to food intake and physical behaviour, and these have been on the increase during the last half century. However, aspects other than overweight and obesity are relevant to nutrition and health, e.g. the intake of micronutrients. There are clear economic perspectives to these developments as also witnessed by an earlier doubleissue of Food Economics (2005), edited by W. Bruce Traill and Mario Mazzocchi. Since then, the research related to economics of food consumption, nutrition and health has been growing rapidly in many countries. The present issue presents some of the most recent research results in the field, with one theoretical overview and results from five empirical studies. Papers in this special issue were submitted to a double-blind review process. We would like to thank the authors of the papers and the reviewers for their efforts, commitment and cooperation in completing this issue.

Obesity, social inequality and economic rationality: an overview

Abstract This paper reviews the economic literature related to obesity and consumer decisions, pursuing the overall question, whether the current obesity epidemic and its social bias can be viewed as a result of rational consumption behaviour. We address a number of potential explanations based on consumers’ utility maximisation behaviour, which all may contribute to explain the ongoing rise in obesity prevalence in many western countries. In addition to standard neoclassical explanations of obesity, we discuss moral hazard aspects, the role of network externalities, self-control problems and habitual behaviour. We include all of these aspects of the individual weight decision in a unified theoretical framework and present existing empirical evidence for each effect. Based on our analysis, we discuss the different economic explanations and give suggestions for future research.