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Kaushik Mukhopadhaya, PhD1, Bishwa Adhikari, PhD1, Gerald Mumma, PhD1, and Mario F. Teisl, PhD2. (1) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway - K73, Atlanta, GA 30341, 7704881292, KMukhopadhaya@cdc.gov, (2) Department of Resource Economics and Policy, University of Maine, 5782 College Avenue, Orno, ME 04469
Background – Estimates of the economic benefits of intervention strategies to make food safer from specific pathogens for different durations of protection are not available. Such benefits are not directly observed in the marketplace. There is a need for estimates of these benefits to calculate the net benefits from specific measures to improve the level of food safety. We calculated estimates of consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for a hypothetical vaccine that would deliver a 1-year, 5-years, 10-years, or lifetime of protection against Salmonella, E. coli, or Listeria. Methods – We used regression analysis to determine the factors associated with consumers' expected WTP for improvements in levels of food safety. Information concerning socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, health status, and food safety awareness was obtained from the FoodNet 2002 population survey data. Results – On average, 68%, 56%, 50%, and 45% of respondents were willing to pay bids $25, $50, $75, and $100, respectively, for a hypothetical vaccine to protect them against one of the foodborne pathogens. The percentage of respondents willing to pay for the vaccine increased with the duration of protection for each bid level. A regression model of the consumers' WTP for the hypothetical vaccine yielded the following: the odds of accepting a bid was 1.4 times greater (p<0.000) for E. coli than Salmonella or Listeria; 3.3 times higher (p<0.000) for a bid amount of $25 compared to $100; lower by a factor of 0.3 (p<0.000) for one-year prevention compared to a lifetime protection. Compared to the WTP for a vaccine with lifetime protection against Salmonella for the reference individual ($104, 95% CI: $92-$115), consumers were willing to pay $10 (95% CI: $5-$16) more for protection against E. coli, $41 (95% CI: $−47-−35) less for one-year prevention, $16 (95% CI: −22-−9) less if aged 65 years and above, $32 (95% CI: $19-$45) more on behalf of children less than five years of age. Conclusions – Consumers were willing to pay for protection against foodborne pathogens. They were willing to pay more for longer protection and for protection against E. coli compared to Salmonella or Listeria. However, they were less willing to pay if the protection was costly.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Food Safety, Pathogens
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.