X
(All Fields are required)
Issue Brief

Cost of Foodborne Illness


Cost of Foodborne Illness

In addition to sickness, discomfort, and death, foodborne illnesses carry with them significant economic and social costs that extend far beyond the immediate victim.

  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that foodborne diseases cause approximately 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths in the United States each year.1
  • For every foodborne illness case that is reported, as many as 40 more illnesses are not reported or lab-confirmed.2 
  • More than 30 million people in the United States are likely to be particularly susceptible to foodborne disease.  Very young, elderly, and immune-compromised persons experience the most serious foodborne illnesses.3 
  • It is estimated that chronic, secondary complications resulting from foodborne illness occur in 2-3 percent of cases.4 
  • The Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates the annual costs of medical care, productivity losses, and premature deaths due to foodborne illnesses caused by the five major pathogens to be $6.9 billion. 5
Date added:
Nov 18, 2008
Project:
Produce Safety Project
Topic:
Food Safety
References:
Collapse All
close

References:

1HHS, CDC, Food Safety Office, available here.

2This multiplier reflects the estimates developed by a number of different sources. See Andrew C. Voetsch et al., "FoodNet Estimate of the Burden of Illness Caused by Nontyphoidal Salmonella Infections in the United States." Clinical Infectious Diseases 38, no. Suppl 3 (2004): S127-S134, available here; P Mead et al., Food-related illness and death in the United States, Emerg Infect Dis 1999; 5607-25 (multiplier of 38); and RB Chalker and MJ Blaser. A review of human salmonellosis. III. Magnitude of Salmonella Infection in the United States. Rev Infect Dis 1988;10:111-24.

3Council for Agricultural Science and Technology. “Foodborne Pathogens: Risks and Consequences.” Task Force Report No. 122, (1994).

4Council for Agricultural Science and Technology, (1994).

5S.R. Crutchfield, T. Roberts, “Food Safety Efforts Accelerate in the 1990s.” 23 FoodReview 44: 49 (2000).

Related Resources

Multistate Foodborne Illness Outbreaks

Data Visualization

In January 2011, President Barack Obama signed the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) into law, signaling the first major update to our nation’s food safety oversight framework since the Great Depression. Despite widespread support for the legislation and its implementation, the Obama administration still has not issued all of the proposed rules under FSMA.

More

''Congress Shouldn't Weaken Food Safety Laws''

Opinion

"Being a Minnesotan, Jeff Almer searched for a polite term to describe how he feels about a congressional push to roll back the new food safety laws his family fought for when his elderly mother died after eating ­salmonella-laced peanut butter in late 2008."

More

''For Our Kids' Sake, Food Safety Must Be a Priority''

Opinion

As a pediatrician, my No. 1 concern is to keep children safe and healthy. Inside the walls of my office, I can provide services and counseling to help do just that, whether by giving an infant her first childhood vaccine, providing a mental health screening to an adolescent patient or counseling parents about how to keep their homes as safe as possible. Unfortunately, there are some threats to children's health that are beyond my control, including the food they consume.

More

Pregnant Women & Listeria: CDC Data Show High Rate of Infections for Expectant Moms

Other Resource

CDC Data Show Alarmingly High Rate of Listeria Infections for Expectant MomsFrom 2004 2009, 29 percent of cases during pregnancy ended in miscarriage, stillbirth or neonatal death Data collected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Foodborne

More

''Budget Cuts Won't Reduce Food Safety Inspections''

Media Coverage

"The Food and Drug Administration will not reduce food inspections because of budget cuts, despite warning earlier that it could be forced to eliminate thousands of inspections by Sept. 30."

More