The impact of consumer demand for quality on the agricultural and food system is an increased emphasis on quality differentiation but not all in the direction of upgrading quality. The more elite market segments are thriving and reaching growing numbers of consumers but the basic price/quality...

The purpose of this study is to identify the level of foodborne illness in the elderly population of the United States and to examine changes over time in these patterns. The analysis is based upon the National Hospital Discharge Survey done by the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers...

We estimate the effects of new brands on market competition and consumer welfare in the U.S. processed cheese market. We find that an observed increase in consumer welfare was attributable mainly to an increase in the number of brands in the sample market, while the price effect, which measures...

Although obesity is already the leading public health crisis in the U.S., with an estimated social cost of approximately $120 billion a year and growing (Rowley, 2004), obesity incidence continues to increase at an alarming rate (Kuhn, 2002). The main culprits are the increase in the consumption...

A simple experiment is used to examine the effect of grocery store nutrition labels on the sales of microwave popcorn in the East Bay area of California. Using an incomplete demand system we estimate the impact of the nutrition labels on sales of healthy (products that merit a nutrition label)...

Nutrition labels can potentially benefit consumers by increasing product knowledge and reducing search costs. However, the global increase in obesity rates leads one to question the effectiveness of current nutrition information formats. Alternative formats for providing nutrition information...