Overview
One of ERS's charges is to study the market consequences of
failures in food safety systems. A number of studies have focused
on how consumers respond to food safety recalls and warnings
by Federal health and safety officials to temporarily avoid
particular foods.
Research studies attempt to answer the following questions:
- Do consumers avoid foods that they have been warned to
avoid?
- How long does it take for demand to return to its pre-warning
state after officials give the "all clear"? and
- How closely do consumers parse warnings, either making
substitutions to similar foods or avoiding such foods on the
assumption that similar foods are similarly contaminated?
ERS research adds to the knowledge base about consumer behavior
and how food choices change when consumers are temporarily warned
to avoid particular foods. In addition to warnings about the
domestic food supply, highly publicized domestic or international
food safety incidents may change consumer perceptions about food
safety and their food purchasing patterns. Some consumers avoid
purchasing foods they perceive as unsafe; even after a safety
problem with a particular food has been resolved, consumer
perceptions about the implicated food product and about the ability
of the supplier or exporting country to produce safe food may be
slow to change.