No country is an island in regulating food safety:How the WTO monitors Chinese food safety laws through the Trade Policy Review Mechanism(TPRM)

Established within the framework of the World Trade Organization(WTO),the Trade Policy Review Mechanism(TPRM) reviews periodically the trade policies of all WTO Members. The review includes many aspects of food safety regulation. China's trade policy is reviewed every two years. This paper analyses in detail the reviews of China's trade policy in 2006,2008,2010,2012 and 2014. It focuses in particular on food safety laws and types of standards,alignment of domestic standards with international standards,the role of different domestic institutions,transparency and notification of food safety measures under the WTO agreements on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures(SPS) and on Technical Barriers to Trade(TBT Agreement),import and export,and geographical indications(GIs). It concludes that the WTO TPRM can contribute,within its mandate,to reform of Chinese food safety laws and improvement of food safety in China. It notes that China has already undertaken substantial reforms of its system for regulating food safety. It recommends that China should continue to participate actively in the TPRM,follow its own path with regard to alignment and learn selectively from other WTO Members.     

What is artificial meat and what does it mean for the future of the meat industry?

The meat industry cannot respond to increases in demand by ever increasing resource use. The industry must find solutions to issues regarding animal welfare, health and sustainability and will have to do so in the face of competition from emerging non-traditional meat and protein products in an increasingly complex regulatory environment. These novel meat and protein products, otherwise known as ‘artificial meat' are utilising ground breaking technologies designed to meet the issues facing the conventional meat industry. These artificial meats, in vitro or cultured meat and meat from genetically modified organisms have no real capacity to compete with conventional meat production in the present environment. However, meat replacements manufactured from plant proteins and mycoproteins are currently the biggest competitors and are gaining a small percentage of the market. Manufactured meats may push conventional meat into the premium end of the market, and supply the bulk, cheap end of the market if conventional meat products become more expensive and the palatability and versatility of manufactured meats improve. In time the technology for other artificial meats such as meat from genetic modified organisms or cultured meat may become sufficiently developed for these products to enter the market with no complexity of the competition between meat products. Conventional meat producers can assimilate agroecology ecology concepts in order to develop sustainable animal production systems. The conventional meat industry can also benefit from assimilating biotechnologies such as cloning and genetic modification technologies, using the technology to adapt to the changing environment and respond to the increasing competition from artificial meats. Although it will depend at least partly on the evolution of conventional meat production, the future of artificial meat produced from stem cells appears uncertain at this time.     

Cultured meat in western media: The disproportionate coverage of vegetarian reactions,demographic realities,and implications for cultured meat marketing

This paper examines the media coverage of the 2013 London cultured meat tasting event, particularly in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Using major news outlets, prominent magazines covering food and science issues, and advocacy websites concerning meat consumption, the paper characterizes the overall emphases of the coverage, the tenor of the coverage, and compares the media portrayal of the important issues to the demographic and psychological realities of the actual consumer market into which cultured meat will compete. In particular, the paper argues that Western media gives a distorted picture of what obstacles are in the path of cultured meat acceptance, especially by overemphasizing and overrepresenting the importance of the reception of cultured meat among vegetarians. Promoters of cultured meat should recognize the skewed impression that this media coverage provides and pay attention to the demographic data that suggests strict vegetarians are a demographically negligible group. Resources for promoting cultured meat should focus on the empirical demographics of the consumer market and the empirical psychology of mainstream consumers.     

消费者对转基因食品认知的分析思路探索

针对中国转基因食品消费者认知研究的现状以及不足之处,分析了转基因食品特殊的属性对消费者认知状况的影响、消费者对其认知状况对转基因食品市场特性的影响,以及影响转基因食品认知状况的外部因素,在此基础上提出了关于转基因食品消费者认知影响因素的整体分析思路。     

Effect of introduced exotic tree litter on consumption patterns of the introduced exotic isopod Armadillidium vulgare

The feeding preferences and consumption rates of the exotic woodlouse Armadillidium vulgare were measured on litters from the autochthonous Rio Grande cottonwood and the exotic Russian olive. When offered a choice between five litter types (green and shed leaves of Russian olive and cottonwood, and fruits of Russian olive), the isopods consumed more of the exotic plant litter (green leaves and the fruits of Russian olive) than of the autochthonous cottonwood. When offered only one diet, consumption rates of green leaves and fruits of Russian olive were again the highest. Feeding was related with N and C:N ratios of the litter, with highest consumption of diets with low and high C:N ratios and lowest consumption of diets with intermediate C:N ratios. The N content was highest (and C:N ratios lowest) on isopods feeding shed leaves of Russian olive. Growth was not related to the amount or the C:N ratio of the food consumed, being highest for animals feeding on shed leaves of cottonwood. Our results show that the consumption patterns and the C and N body composition of the exotic woodlouse A. vulgare are altered when fed with Russian olive litter, suggesting that the replacement of the autochthonous cottonwood by the exotic Russian olive may negatively affect the maintenance of the population of these exotic detritivores in the area.     

Consumer interest in social sustainability issues of whitefish from capture fisheries in the north‐east Atlantic

Capture fisheries in the north‐east Atlantic account for approximately 10% of all fish consumed from capture fisheries globally. The literature shows that consumers show considerable interest in social sustainability of products in general and of fish specifically. This interest, however, has not yet been investigated for fish from the north‐east Atlantic. The first objective of this study, therefore, was to investigate whether consumers are interested in social sustainability issues of whitefish from the north‐east Atlantic by determining preferences for four social sustainability issues with distinct benefits in relation to a known reference point (i.e. approach to overfishing). The second objective of this study was to determine to what degree case‐specific and general psychographic consumer characteristics explain preferences for these issues. Choice modelling results from an online survey among 457 Dutch consumers show that consumers have the strongest preference for the environmental sustainability issue approach to overfishing. In addition, results on the social sustainability issues showed that consumers prefer fish welfare over product quality, worker safety and local employment, indicating that in this case, consumers place animal benefits over personal, worker and community benefits. The case‐specific psychographic characteristic concern contributed most to explaining preferences for the environmental sustainability issue, whereas the general psychographic characteristic personal relevance contributed most to explaining preferences for the social sustainability issues. This result is likely explained by the principal focus on MSC certification in markets for fish products, which caused consumers to form opinions (e.g. concern) on overfishing, but not on social sustainability.     

Behavioural ecology at sea of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) kelts from a Newfoundland (Canada) river

For migratory fishes such as Atlantic salmon, temporal variation in the utilization of thermal and depth habitats in the marine environment is likely to occur at both broad and fine scales, reflecting both ecological and metabolic factors. To test this, we implanted 26 Atlantic salmon kelts (i.e., post‐spawners) descending Campbellton River, Newfoundland, with data storage tags that recorded date/time, internal and external temperatures, pressure, and light. The salmon that returned to Campbellton River after an average of 62 days at sea were consecutive spawning kelt. Detailed data were recovered from eight of these fish and revealed distinct patterns in their utilization of thermal and depth habitats. Water temperatures experienced over the period at sea showed a wide range for all fish (from <0 to nearly 20°C); however, there were two clear frequency modes; one at 6–7°C and the other at 11–12°C. The cooler mode was indicative of daytime profiles and the warmer mode of night‐time profiles. This corresponded with the depth profiles, which indicated that salmon dove more frequently below 5 m (mean ± SD = 23 ± 0.9 dives per day) and spent less time (approximately 18%) near the sea surface (<1 m) during the day than during the night (4 ± 0.4 dives per night; approximately 45% time <1 m). The diurnal pattern may be indicative of a reliance on vision for feeding at depth and the short duration of dives (<10 min) may be a strategy that allows salmon a metabolic advantage (e.g., swimming capacity) over their prey living constantly at depth in cool waters.     

Farmers' risk preference and fertilizer use

This study examines the role of farmers' risk attitudes toward fertilizer use in cotton production in China. Contradicting previous studies, this paper theoretically shows that the relationship between farmers' risk aversion and fertilizer use is not always monotonic. Field survey data were collected to test this relationship using the Cobb–Douglas production function. Results suggest that when the elasticity of fertilizer use and the probability of achieving the desired effects from fertilizer use are high, risk-averse farmers apply more fertilizer than risk-taking farmers. Conversely, when the elasticity of fertilizer use and the probability of achieving the desired effects are low, risk-taking farmers apply more fertilizer than risk-neutral or risk-averse farmers.     

Reforming Wakame Aquaculture in Japan with Relaxed Processing Standards: From Consumer and Producer Viewpoints

This study investigated potential production reforms of wakame aquaculture in Japan through modification of processing standards. The research focused on the destemming process and examined both the consumers’ and producers’ perspectives. An auction experiment was conducted to measure consumer preferences for wakame with different destemming standards (1, 4, 7, and 10 mm). It was found that, although consumer preferences were diverse, there was no preference between the present (1-mm) and 4-mm standards. In addition, a production experiment was used to measure the amount of labor that could be saved (and thereby the improvement in profit) by relaxing the standard from 1 mm to 4 mm. It was concluded that this new standard would increase productivity by 13.3% without affecting consumer demand, which will improve the structure of this industry for competition against cheaper foreign products.