What's the beef? The contested Governance of European Food Safety

摘要

Food safety is an important regulatory arena that impacts on everyone involved in the food value chain, from producer to consumer. It is of vital concern everywhere, but especially so in contemporary Europe. A series of food-related scares and disputes, most notably mad cow disease, dioxin contamination, beef hormones, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs), have made European consumers unusually sensitive to food safety policies. This book focuses on the intense conflicts around food safety regulations that emerged in Europe over the past decade. It sought to understand the sources of this conflict, the dynamics of contestation and its implications for institutional reform, European integration, international trade, and the changing balance between public and private regulations.