Impact of food safety information on US poultry demand

Abstract

The impact of poultry product recall events on consumer demand in the US was empirically tested for four major categories of poultry: broiler (young chicken), eggs, turkey and other chicken (mature or nonbroiler chicken). From 2000 to 2004, poultry Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) recall events had a consistent positive impact on demand for turkey but no significant impact on other types of poultry products. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) – FSIS recall, as a complement to food labelling, did not undermine poultry consumption but promoted turkey demands. On the contrary, media recall undermined poultry demands. Moreover, it demonstrated that turkey consumers were a special behaviour group of poultry consumers.

Keywords:

• consumer economics
• government policy
• food safety
• poultry

JEL Classification::

• I18
• D12

Acknowledgements

I am gratitude to Tian Xia and John Crespi as technical supporters. I appreciate two anonymous referees who have provided their excellent feedback. I am thankful to the participants of the 14th annual K-State Research Forum, 20th Midwest SAS Users Group Conference, and 46th annual meeting of the Missouri Valley Economic Association for their helpful comments. All views are those of the author.

Notes

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