MARKETING OF SAFE FOOD THROUGH LABELING

After a series of food safety crises during the 1990s, regulators, producers, and retailers alike are trying to regain consumer confidence by redesigning legislation and quality-assurance programs. These programs focus on process innovation, traceability, and identity preservation of products. This paper reviews current developments in the European food and retail industry. Hypotheses on the link between structural adjustments in the food production and marketing chain and the provision of safe food emerge. In addition, we report results from a survey on consumer perception of food-safety attributes and discuss the opportunities for and limits of marketing safe food through labels