Jukka Peltola

Costs of two alternative Salmonella control policies in Finnish broiler production

BackgroundCosts and benefits of two Salmonella control policies for broiler production were described and compared. The control options were the Zoonosis Directive 92/117/EC and the more intense strategy, the Finnish Salmonella Control Programme (FSCP).MethodsThe comparison included the Salmonella control costs in primary and secondary production and the direct and indirect losses due to Salmonella infections in humans in 2000.ResultsThe total annual costs of the FSCP were calculated to be 990 400 EUR (0.02 €/kg broiler meat). The average control costs in the broiler production chain were seven times higher with the FSCP than with the Zoonosis Directive alone. However, the public health costs were 33 times higher with the Zoonosis Directive alone. The value of one prevented loss of life per year exceeded the annual control costs of the FSCP.ConclusionDue to significant savings in public health costs compared to costs of FSCP, the FSCP was found to be economically feasible.

Consumer Attitudes, Underlying Perceptions and Actions Associated with Food Quality and Safety

Abstract This study examines consumer perceptions and attitudes associated with food and food safety, how those perceptions depend on consumer characteristics, and the relationship between attitudes and actual food safety-related behaviour. The analysis is based on a survey eliciting willingness to pay (WTP) for the Finnish Salmonella Control Program. Besides WTP, information obtained from the survey describes consumer attitudes in reference to various food and food safety related issues. The primary purpose of the study is to categorize consumers according to their attitudinal profiles and to compare these different consumer categories. In addition, this study examines the linkages between expressed attitudes and behaviour including WTP and actual, self-reported avoidance behaviour. As expected, not all people are very concerned about food safety. Additionally, the groups concerned about food safety may act differently when ensuring it. For example, using money in order to “purchase” food safety and using own efforts in order to “produce” food safety seem to be two alternative behavioural approaches, which represent either substitute or complement strategies, depending on the attitudinal profiles of the consumers in question.