| Food-borne disease imposes significant costs on food marketing and health systems, making food safety a serious, global issue. This study investigates the roles of risk perceptions and risk tolerance in shaping Canadian consumers' willingness-to-pay for food safety risk reductions. Non-hypothetical experimental auctions were used to elicit consumer valuations of food safety improvement. Results suggest that consumers generally overestimate the likelihood of becoming ill due to food-borne disease relative to scientifically-estimated odds, and are willing to pay a positive amount to reduce food-safety risk. Risk reduction valuations increased with higher initial risk, supporting arguments of diminishing marginal value for risk reductions. To investigate the relationship between food safety concern and risk reduction valuations, individual risk perception scores are constructed based on questionnaire responses. Results indicate that willingness-to-pay for improved food safety tends to decrease as individuals become more risk tolerant. |
