Consumer preferences before and after a food safety scare: An experimental analysis of the 2010 egg recall

In August 2010, more than half a billion eggs were recalled in the U.S. because of a Salmonella outbreak. This study examines the effect of the recall with a unique pair of auction experiments investigating willingness to pay (WTP) for conventional and organic eggs, one conducted shortly before and one right after the recall with the same participants. In addition to the before and after bids, participants bid again after a negative information or balanced information treatment about the event. Accompanying surveys showed consumers had a high level of awareness of the recall but less knowledge of specific details, and viewed information on egg farm conditions as very important in their WTP. While there were no significant before and after differences, WTP for organic eggs significantly increased in the negative information treatment, and balanced information had a positive effect on consumer WTP for conventional eggs.     

高效液相色谱法测定禽蛋中的三聚氰胺

本实验建立了禽蛋中三聚氰胺的测定方法。采用高效液相色谱仪,乙腈：（0.01mol/L辛烷磺酸钠和0.01mol/L柠檬酸）=10：90作为流动相,C18色谱柱,检测波长为240nm。结果表明：在0.5-100μg/mL浓度范围,线性关系良好,r=0.9995;变异系数为0.6%;试样测定的相对标准偏差（RSD）〈3%。本法操作简便,测定结果准确。     

MALDI Biotyper高通量微生物鉴定系统在台湾进口鳖蛋检疫中的初步应用

[目的]应用MALDI-TOF-MS和Biotyper分析软件对台湾进口的鳖蛋进行携带病原菌的检测。[方法]按照病原菌检测标准进行培养,选取可疑菌株,肉汤培养后,按照MALDI-TOF-MS要求进行样品制备、点靶以及样品质谱图的获取,并运用Biotyper分析软件对所获取的质谱图进行分析。[结论]应用MALDI-TOF-MS方法从进口鳖蛋中分离出绿脓杆菌、奇异变形杆菌、肺炎克雷伯氏菌等致病菌,为进出口商、检验机构及其他相关部门敲响警钟。此鉴定方法简单快速,能够加快鳖蛋的通关速度,为两岸建设作贡献。     

Print news coverage of the 2010 Iowa egg recall: Addressing bad eggs and poor oversight

This paper examines the print news coverage of the 2010 Iowa egg recall, the largest in the United States, in order to determine how the news media conveyed messages regarding the recall and its causes, as well as what consumers might do in response to the recall. The news media has long been both a primary source of consumer information relating to food safety and a notable contributor to the policy agenda. A content analysis of 160 articles from four national US newspapers, the largest regional paper in Iowa, and the Associated Press revealed that the recall was framed both as a failure of government oversight and as an instance of poor production practices by the farmers in question. Proposed responses to the recall similarly fell into two distinct categories: changing consumer purchasing and food preparation habits in order to minimize the immediate risk of infection, and supporting legislative and regulatory food safety reforms that would minimize the risk of future outbreaks. Particular media focus was given to both the US Food Safety Modernization Act and the FDA Egg Rule. Relatively little media attention was given to industrial agriculture as a causal frame or the purchasing of “alternative” eggs as a potential response. Overall, coverage conveyed the policy relevance of the recall but failed both to fully contextualize the outbreak within the history of previous outbreaks and food safety concerns and to convey the relationship of the outbreak to the current system of industrial agriculture.