Toledo, Chantal and Sofia Berto Villas-Boas

from ARE Update Vol. 17, No. 1, Sep/Oct, 2013

View Article PDF: Foodborne Disease Outbreaks and Consumer Purchases

Abstract

Using a large product-level scanner data set from a national grocery chain, we examine how consumers in California reacted to three consecutive egg recalls during the 2010 Salmonella outbreak. We find a 9% significant reduction in egg sales. Given an overall price elasticity for eggs in U.S. households of around -0.1, this sales reduction is comparable to an almost 100% increase in price.

Keywords

food safety, Salmonella, consumer behavior, scanner data

Citation

Toledo, Chantal and Sofia Berto Villas-Boas. 2013. "Foodborne Disease Outbreaks and Consumer Purchases." ARE Update 17(1): 1-4. University of California Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics.
https://giannini.ucop.edu/filer/file/1453327768/16921/