Four measures are introduced to evaluate the likelihood of meat and poultry recalls and how firms and FSIS manage such events. These measures include the proportion of product retrieved (recovery rate), time to complete a case, the ratio of recovery rate and completion, and the hazard rate. This...

The Almond Board of California proposed to require that all almonds shipped from California handlers be treated to achieve a 4-log reduction in the pathogen that leads to salmonellosis. The Assurance program is expected to add several million dollars to transactions costs in the almond marketing...

This report provides a background analysis of the market for nisin and other commercially available antimicrobial food additives. The report concludes that there is a potential role for a new U.S.-based entity to compete with a nisin product that is cost-competitive or provides quality...

The US Food and Drug Administration confirmed in February 2007 that a major foodborne illness outbreak was caused by two peanut butter brands, Peter Pan and Great Value, manufactured by ConAgra Foods Inc. at its Sylvester, Georgia, processing plant. As a result, on February 14, 2007, ConAgra...

Contractual arrangements for joint machinery ownership between independent agribusinesses are explored. A two-farm economic simulation model of locations in Texas, Colorado, and Montana is developed to provide insight associated with sharing combines. Important variables include combine size...

The effect of negative publicity on consumer demand for brands is examined in the context of recall of a peanut butter brand as a result of pathogen contamination. The recall was asso- ciated with negative impacts for the implicated brand and positive effects on the leading competitor brand....

We investigate the foodborne illness outbreak affecting a national brand of peanut butter to determine how demand for the product category was affected. The illness outbreak coincided with growth in the quantity demanded for the peanut butter category. The negative impact on the category...

Value at Risk estimated with joint distribution methodologies demonstrates that risk is lower for portfolios of real estate investment trusts (REITs) and small-business equities compared with a single-asset holding. Benefits from diversification were largest in 2001--2003 and the smallest from...