Food values and heterogeneous consumer responses to nanotechnology

Agricultural applications of nanotechnology are at a relatively early stage and little is known about consumer responses to the technology. Canadian consumer responses to food nanotechnology are examined through the lens of the Food Value Scale. Data from a survey of Canadian consumers are used to evaluate the relative importance of eleven food values to food purchase decisions. We find that taste, safety, nutrition, and price are among the most important food values to Canadians, however, consumers exhibit considerable heterogeneity with respect to the priority placed on these values. A discrete choice experiment (DCE) explores the effect of food values on choice behavior. The DCE is positioned as a sliced apple product with non-browning and antioxidant-enhanced features introduced through the use of nanocoating or a conventional coating method. Random parameters logit (RPL) and latent class models (LCM) confirm the existence of significant preference heterogeneity. The LCM identifies three classes of consumers: “supporters,” “doubters,” and “opponents” who differ in their reaction to nanotechnology and in the relative importance placed on food values such as naturalness, novelty, and convenience. The analysis shows that food values provide additional insights into consumers’ food choices and their attitudes toward novel food technologies.     

苹果中腐霉利残留快检测定及方法评估

本研究以阿克苏苹果样品中腐霉利的残留为研究对象,采用行业标准《蔬菜和水果中有机磷、有机氯、拟除虫菊酯和氨基甲酸酯类农药多残留的测定》(NY/T 761—2008)为参比方法,分别选取3家快检试剂盒测定苹果样品中添加的不同浓度腐霉利标品,根据《食品快速检测方法评价技术规范》对其快检适用性进行评估.结果显示,试剂盒A与试剂盒C在0.3 mg·kg-1浓度以上呈阳性结果,灵敏度为75％、特异性为100％、假阴性率为25％、假阳性率为0;试剂盒B在0.1 mg·kg-1以上呈阳性结果,其灵敏度为100％、特异性为50％、假阴性率为0、假阳性率为50％;3家试剂盒的显著性差异均为83.33％、相对准确度为8.1％.所选试剂盒适用于苹果中腐霉利残留量的快速筛查.     

鲜切果蔬保鲜技术研究进展

鲜切果蔬因其丰富的营养,新鲜、方便的特性广受消费者欢迎,然而鲜切果蔬在加工、贮藏、销售等过程中,由于机械损伤、自身生理作用、微生物的侵染等因素易导致其变质衰老的进程加快,影响产品的货架期.本文从物理、化学、生物及果蔬贮藏新技术等方面论述了鲜切果蔬的保鲜技术,以期为今后鲜切果蔬的加工与生产提供理论依据与参考.     

Collective Reputation and Quality

Firms who sell regional or specialty products often share a collective reputation based on aggregate quality. Collective reputation can be approached as a dynamic common property resource problem. We show that for an experience good without firm traceability, individual firms have the incentive to choose quality levels that are sub-optimal for the group. These results support minimum quality standards. Trigger strategies are analyzed as an alternative solution to this problem. Finally, the implications of these results are discussed as they relate to the case study of Washington apples.     

How Do Cultural Worldviews Shape Food Technology Perceptions? Evidence from a Discrete Choice Experiment

Agricultural biotechnology (genetic modification) has encountered resistance from many consumers, resulting in disparate regulatory approaches across different jurisdictions. The recent advent of CRISPR-Cas9, or gene editing, offers the potential for significant improvements in plant breeding. However, little is known currently about consumer responses to the technology. A factor often omitted from previous economic analyses of consumer acceptance of new food technologies is underlying human values or worldviews. Drawing upon cultural cognition theory and using data from a survey of Canadian consumers, we examine the influence of cultural values on food choice behaviours. Respondents’ pre-existing cultural values are measured on two dimensions: hierarchy-egalitarianism and individualism-communitarianism. Choice behaviours are captured using a discrete choice experiment featuring a sliced apple product with two consumer-oriented attributes (non-browning and antioxidant-enhanced) and three novel food technologies (gene editing, genetic modification, edible coating). Using a random parameters logit model with error components we find pre-existing cultural values to be significant determinants of choice behaviours. Individuals pre-disposed towards a hierarchical worldview are more accepting of novel food technologies, as are individuals with a communitarian worldview. While the use of gene editing results in negative marginal utilities in a food choice situation, the effect is not as large as with genetic modification, suggesting there is scope to ameliorate potentially negative reactions to the technology with value-compatible messages.     

酸性电位水在鲜切果蔬加工和贮藏中的应用

作为一种新型杀菌剂,酸性电位水具有广谱杀菌的特性而且灭菌后可完全还原咸水,无毒、无残留,广泛用于食品加工、医疗卫生等领域.采用酸性电位水用于鲜切果蔬的杀菌保鲜,可以减少在农产品储运过程中化学药剂的使用,增加食品的安全性.对酸性电位水在鲜切果蔬加工和贮藏方面的应用研究进行了总结,对其应用前景作了分析评价.将酸性电位水在该...     

Tariff Equivalent and Forgone Trade Effects of Prohibitive Technical Barriers to Trade

We derive a method to econometrically estimate the tariff equivalent and forgone trade effects of a prohibitive technical barrier to trade (TBT) based on Wales and Woodland's Kuhn–Tucker approach to corner solutions in consumer choice. The method overcomes the lack of observed data on bilateral trade flows and accounts for differentiated goods by place of origin. We apply the derived random utility model to international trade in apples to identify the tariff equivalent of prohibitive phytosanitary barriers imposed by Australia on potential imports of New Zealand apples. We estimate the forgone apple trade between the two countries, the implied trade injury imposed by Australia on New Zealand, and the welfare loss to Australia. The removal of the Australian policy would induce net welfare gains around US$50 million annually for Australia.     

Seasonal asymmetries in wholesale–retail cost pass-through

This article investigates the extent of seasonal asymmetries in wholesale to retail cost pass-through in the Canadian apple market. We model nonlinearity in cost pass-through in a panel two-regime error correction model. The model employs weekly store-level retail matching wholesale price data for a major US retail chain. Our results reveal distinct seasonal asymmetries in cost pass-through. Retail prices adjust faster during the fall indicating significantly higher pass-through in response to a change in input composition and seasonal expansion of alternative marketing channels. This input composition effect on cost pass-through highlights the general importance of time-variant market conditions and their respective determinants in explaining cost pass-through dynamics in commodity markets.     

套袋与不套袋富士苹果品质对比效果

以不套袋富士苹果为对照,研究了套袋富士苹果与不套袋富士苹果的内外品质和经济效益。结果表明:套袋可促进苹果着色,增加果面光洁度、减少病虫侵害、果秀发病率和日烧率,提高商品售价,但降低了苹果的风味;内在品质相比较,套袋苹果单果重量减轻8.8%,可溶性固形物含量降低5.4%,而硬度提高6.9%。     

中国苹果加工产业发展趋势分析

得益于资源优势和成本优势,中国苹果加工产业发展迅速,正由产能扩张向提质竞争过渡。综合产业发展和市场变化判断,加工产业发展的基本趋势是行业整合加快,产业布局向原料产地集中;受成本和出口价格快速增长、国际市场需求不足、贸易壁垒增强等因素影响,中国浓缩苹果汁出口约束增强。中国苹果加工产业应以转型升级为发展契机,通过行业整合、优化产业结构,建立、健全出口产品的质量标准体系和应对国际贸易壁垒的市场预警机制,积极开拓新兴市场。