The demand for food safety

This article reviews and comments upon a number of models of consumer choice of foods and diets with different real or perceived risks and benefits associated with them. The article proceeds to discuss the imperfections and externalities in the market which result in a market solution which may provide too much or (more typically) too little food safety for individual consumers and for society. The likely societal magnitudes of some of the costs of food-borne ill-health are also discussed. The case for government intervention is quite clear, but care must be taken not to impose too high a level of food safety.