Private Regulation of Food Safety by Supermarkets

Food safety is a highly debated issue. Food industry organizations, retailers and national and transnational governments have been trying to find new ways to regulate food safety. Can private regulation of food safety meet the high expectations? A review of existing literature shows some conditions to be important for effectively protecting public interests by private regulation. In particular, retailers worldwide are actively engaged in setting food safety standards for their suppliers. A case study of food safety regulation by Dutch retailers shows that they can force food industry organizations and producers to accept food safety standards because of their economic (market) power.