The chaos created by “mad cow” and other microbiological diseases have been a lightning conductor for a change in attitudes around the world towards food safety, according to the authors of a new book, Food Safety and International Competitiveness: The Case of Beef.

“The onset of the BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) or “mad cow” crisis in the late 1980s signalled a new era of change,” said Professor John Spriggs from Charles Sturt University,  co-author of the book with Associate Professor Grant Isaac of the University of Saskatchewan, Canada.

“While BSE and other microbiological diseases have been tragic for the families involved, they have also stimulated many countries, including Australia, to dramatically improve their food safety systems,” Professor Spriggs said.

“We generally think that improving food safety is a good thing,” he said, “but what if a measure chosen only reduces risk by a negligible amount while the cost (on producers and consumers) is very high?”

The authors found that different countries have done different things to improve food safety – and some are more cost-effective than others.

With an increasingly global market for food products, Professor Spriggs said that a country’s food industry needs to not only offer safe food but also has to provide it in a cost-effective way.

“Otherwise it will cease to be internationally competitive,” he said.

Food Safety and International Competitiveness: The Case of Beef deals with beef industries in the USA, Canada, the UK and Australia. 

The book examines the drivers for change in food safety in these countries, the way government and industry make decisions on food safety and the resulting institutional arrangements.

It then examines what may be done to improve the situation – to provide safe food while remaining internationally competitive.