ABSTRACT
The European Union (EU) has been confronted recently with a series of food-related crises that potentially endanger citizens’ health and peace of mind, threaten the political survival of Member State governments, undermine the legitimacy of the organization and its free trade objectives, and embroil the EU in disputes with its trading partners.1 The case may be made that food issues are always potentially highly controversial because they pertain to every citizen’s basic needs. However, the novelty and scientific uncertainty of recent concerns, including the use of hormones to enhance beef and dairy production2 and the BSE epidemic,3 have fostered unusually high levels of public controversy. By what means have EU policymakers sought to address these crises?
