27 Jan Food Imported From Low-GDP Countries Carries Greater Risk

MEDICALRESEARCH.COM INTERVIEW WITH:

Jonathan Welburn

Jonathan Welburn
PhD Student and Research Assistant
Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
University of Wisconsin, Madison

Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: This study addresses rising concerns associated with increasing levels of food imported into the United States.  We use data on FDA import violations to quantify risks to food safety.  Using this data, we provide insight on food safety risks that are not easy to obtain by other means.   Our results suggest that the risk level of imported food is higher for foods from low-GDP countries.  High-GDP countries, on the other hand, may be better able to reduce risks through standards and regulations.  Consequently, importers may wish to pay a little more for products from high-GDP countries or work closely with suppliers from low-GDP countries to ensure good safety practices.

Medical Research: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?

Response: Global supply chains, by nature, expose foods to additional risks.  In some cases this leads to high risk foods while in other cases it does not.  It is hard for individual consumers to judge which products are higher risk than others.  Our results help food supply chain managers and regulators to mitigate risks posed by food imports

Medical Research: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Response: Future research may find additional novel uses of this data set.  Detailed analysis may give insight on specific products and specific sources of risk such as adulteration.  However, we have found there is a need for improved data management and transparency.  Import violations data must be compared with separate trade data to quantify risks.  For further analysis, it would be helpful if the database on import violations corresponded more closely with the database on trade volume.

Citation:

Jonathan Welburn, Vicki Bier, Steven Hoerning. Import Security: Assessing the Risks of Imported Food. Risk Analysis, 2016; DOI:10.1111/risa.12560

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JONATHAN WELBURN (2016). Food Imported From Low-GDP Countries Carries Greater Risk 

Last Updated on January 27, 2016 by Marie Benz MD FAAD