Industrial engineers in the food-processing industry have developed the Halyard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) system as a preventive approach to ensuring the safety of meat and poultry products. This paper discusses both the origins of HACCP as an engineering concept and the economics of HACCP as a regulatory tool. The authors contend that the economics literature has not adequately explored the benefits from prevention, particularly when the costs of hazard detection are high and the exact benefits of a particular standard are uncertain but potentially large.