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Valuing food safety improvements using willingness to pay
Marjon van der Pol1, Mandy Ryan, Cam Donaldson
1Health Economics Research Unit, University of Aberdeen, Scotland. mvdpol@ucalgary.ca
Applied Health Economics and Health Policy
|November 19, 2003
Summary
Consumers are willing to pay more for safer food. This study used contingent valuation to assess willingness to pay (WTP) for reduced risk of foodborne illness from poultry, finding WTP is sensitive to how questions are asked.
Area of Science:
- Food safety policy
- Consumer economics
- Risk assessment
Background:
- Assessing intangible benefits, like reduced suffering from foodborne illness, is challenging for food policy.
- Public scrutiny of food safety policies is increasing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To elicit individuals' willingness to pay (WTP) for reducing the risk of poultry-borne illness.
- To evaluate the impact of irradiation and hypothetical treatments on WTP.
- To determine if WTP is influenced by the elicitation method.
Main Methods:
- Contingent valuation survey administered to 200 members of the general public.
- Assessed WTP for eliminating the risk of poultry-borne illness via irradiation or a hypothetical treatment.
Main Results:
- Individuals demonstrated a willingness to pay extra for enhanced food safety.
- WTP varied based on the specific elicitation format used in the survey.
Conclusions:
- Consumers value food safety and are willing to pay for risk reduction.
- The methodology for assessing WTP in food safety contexts needs careful consideration due to format sensitivity.