Laurian J. Unnevehr

The economic implications of using HACCP as a food safety regulatory standard

This article discusses the nature and role of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) as a food safety control system and, in particular, its role as an element of public food safety regulation. The notion of efficiency in food safety regulation is discussed and related to the nature of food safety controls. It is suggested that, if appropriately applied, HACCP is a more economically efficient approach to food safety regulation than command and control (CAC) interventions. The economic implications of HACCP are discussed with reference to estimates of the costs and benefits, in particular for the food industry. Finally, the use of HACCP as an international trade standard and the facilitation of trade in processed food products is considered.

The inverse almost ideal demand system

A new demand system, related to the Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) of Deaton and Muellbauer, is developed and illustrated. This Inverse AIDS (IAIDS) retains all of the desirable theoretical properties of the AIDS model with the exception of, consistent aggregation. An empirical issue is whether a linear approximation will work as well for the IAIDS as it has for the AIDS model, since quantities are not as highly correlated as prices. An application to US meat demand demonstrates that the linear approximation of the IAIDS is excellent, which enhances the ease and range of application. (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.) (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Simultaneity and Structural Change in U.S. Meat Demand

An inverse of the Almost Ideal Demand System, the IAIDS, is developed in order to test the endogeneity of prices and quantities in the U.S. meat demand system. The IAIDS has all the desirable theoretical properties of the AIDS except aggregation from the micro to the market level. Using annual data, both prices and quantities appear to be endogenous within the entire meat market. Including livestock production costs and technical change indicators as instruments eliminates evidence of a mid 1970s demand change.

Consumer Demand for Rice Grain Quality and Returns to Research for Quality Improvement in Southeast Asia

Abundant world rice supply has led to renewed interest in improving grain quality of modem rice varieties. Implicit prices of grain characteristics are estimated for Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines. These prices are used to evaluate rice-breeding goals and to estimate returns to research for quality improvement. Results indicate that the past focus on physical quality improvement was appropriate, and future welfare gains are possible from chemical quality improvement. Returns to quality improvement are substantial and indicate underinvestment in this type of research.

Golden rice: what role could it play in alleviation of vitamin A deficiency?

Abstract Golden rice (GR) is a new rice variety that has been genetically modified to contain beta-carotene, a source of vA. This modification was undertaken as a strategy to address VAD, which is widespread in less developed countries of Asia. Children’s food intake data from a poor rural region of the Philippines are used to simulate the potential impact of GR on vA intake. The potential impact, coverage of deficient subpopulations, and costs of GR are compared to two other interventions, food fortification and supplementation. While investments in future development of GR compare favorably with other interventions in terms of costs and coverage, GR would deliver amounts of vA that are modest, and unlikely to fulfill requirements. Thus, it should be viewed as a complement to existing interventions. To have greatest impact at a cost comparable with wheat fortification, GR varieties should be suited for widespread adoption in Asia and should deliver as much beta-carotene as possible.

Ensuring Food Safety and Quality in Farm-Level Production: Emerging Lessons from the Pork Industry

Several trends bring greater demand for farmlevel quality assurance. Consumer demand for specific product attributes and reliable product quality and safety is growing. This trend, together with increased public regulation or legal liability for food processors and retailers, creates derived demand for quality assurance in farm production. At the same time, expanded international trade in processed-food products brings a need for quality assurance that can be widely recognized. Yet basic questions about farm-level quality assurance remain unanswered. What measures

Regional Shifts in Pork Production: Implications for Competition and Food Safety

U.S. pork production and processing is consolidating in larger, more economically efficient units, and shifting from the Midwest into the Southeast. A regionalmodelof farm supply and processing demand shows that smaller Midwest operations can survive only if processing capacity remains concentrated in that region. Salmonella incidence is higher in the Southeast and on larger farms. Restricting salmonella incidence in hogs delivered for processing to the minimum feasible level would increase total industry costs by 3%, due to increased production and delivery costs. It would also increase the comparative advantage of farms and processing firms in the Midwest. Copyright 2000, Oxford University Press.

Convergence in Global Food Demand and Delivery

Using food expenditures and food sales data over 1990-2004, this report examines whether food consumption and delivery trends are converging across 47 high- and middle-income countries. Middle-income countries, such as China and Mexico, appear to be following trends in high-income countries, measured across several dimensions of food system growth and change. Convergence is apparent in most important food expenditure categories and in indicators of food system modernization such as supermarket and fast-food sales.

Retail premiums for honey characteristics

The retail demand for characteristics of honey is estimated using retail scanner data. The results show that consumers pay substantial premiums for honey based on form, container, brand, and floral source. The highest price premiums are associated with unique monofloral sources, followed by other unusual, but less pure, floral sources. The results demonstrate that consumers will pay for unique characteristics of honeys associated with particular floral sources. Thus, honey producers may be able to further promote honey products or develop new products on the basis of floral source differentiation.

Influence of trade policies on price integration in the world beef market

The article develops three hypotheses about how policy interventions in major trading nations influence price integration in the world beef market. Simple correlation coefficients, tests for significant differences between coefficients, and Granger causality tests are used to test the hypotheses. First, segmentation between prices in Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) -free and FMDendemic countries is found, but it is much less than previously assumed. Second, European Community policies that closed the E.C. import market have isolated prices in the E.C. from other markets. These policies also led to greater integration among prices in FMD-free and FMD-endemic market segments by forcing exporters from both segments to compete directly in new import markets. Third, the U.S.A. is found to be the price leader in world beef markets, due not only to market size, but also to U.S. policies that allow transmission of price information from the U.S. market to the world market but not vice versa.