Jill E. Hobbs - Böcker

With ageing populations, rising incomes and a growing recognition of the link between diet and health, consumers are interested in new food products, supplements and ingredients with purported health benefits. The food industry has responded with new food innovations, formulations and enhancements that comprise the growing health food market, manifesting the need to design regulatory frameworks to govern valid health claims.Regulating Health Foods provides an assessment of the regulatory environment governing the health food sector in key developed markets, including the US, the EU, Japan, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, as well as significant emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Korea. It examines the different definitions of 'health food', product approval processes and health claims regulation in these markets. Against this backdrop, the book also offers insight into the nature of the health food sector in selected countries and examines the drivers of consumer demand for foods offering health benefits.This book is informative and accessible for students interested in food and nutrition policy, food economics, as well as socio-economic issues surrounding food and health. Academics and policymakers interested in food policy and regulation will benefit from the detailed analysis of the regulatory systems in a number of countries, and a comprehensive overview of key literature summarizing consumer attitudes toward health foods and health claims.

This Modern Guide provides detailed theoretical and empirical insights into key areas of research in food economics. It takes a forward-looking perspective on how different actors in the food system shape the sustainability of food production, distribution, and consumption, as well as on major challenges to efficient and inclusive food systems.Analysing the main characteristics of modern food markets, chapters introduce readers to the economics of food systems, product differentiation, the mediating role of food retailers, and the increasing significance and complexity of international trade in food. Encapsulating new methods in the study of food economics and policy, this Modern Guide explores changes in food value chains and consumption. It further pushes the boundaries of food economics to include economic perspectives on the role of social media and technology such as genomics in shaping food systems.Offering key insights into the state-of-the-art debates in the field, this Modern Guide will be critical reading for graduate students and researchers of food economics. It will also be a timely book for practitioners in the field wishing to take a fresh look at issues shaping food systems.

The Economics of Biotechnology is a highly accessible book dealing with some of the most crucial issues to arise in this area. Special attention is paid to consumer, ethical and environmental concerns as well as questions relating to trade policy, intellectual property, who will receive the benefits, international development and the role of international institutions such as the WTO.The authors examine concerns arising from the application of biotechnology in the agri-food industrial complex, and many of the issues discussed also have implications for the medical and pharmaceutical aspects of biotechnology.Fundamental questions regarding the application of standard economic analysis to biotechnology are resolved using traditional neo-classical analyses as well as less mainstream methods. Through exploring a number of approaches, original and unexpected conclusions are reached.This coherent and relevant treatment of the myriad facets of biotechnology will be welcomed by academics, scholars, and economists with a specific interest in international economics or technology, international policymakers, and economic commentators.

Trade and the environment has become a major issue in international relations, yet the surrounding debate remains polarised and hostile. This book answers the question: Can an international liability regime facilitate international trade while fostering environmental sustainability?On the one hand, the authors argue, international trade is perceived as a major threat to environmental sustainability, whilst on the other, trade and the economic development arising from it is seen as the prerequisite to stronger environmental protection. Nowhere is the debate more acrimonious than over trade in genetically modified organisms. The Biosafety Protocol has been negotiated to govern trade in genetically modified products and includes provisions for an international liability regime to facilitate trade - a subject that has been little studied. This valuable study explores the role, design and potential effectiveness of such a regulating body and addresses questions such as - what are the options for an international environmental liability regime? Why are some options unworkable? Is there a set of options that will achieve the dual goals of trade facilitation and environmental protection? Is international liability the best option for defusing the trade and environment debate?This illuminating book will be an essential read for scholars and students (senior undergraduate as well as postgraduate) of international trade policy, environmental economics, international politics and international law. Individuals working in international organizations, those employed by environmental NGOs and government policy makers will also find much to engage them within this book.