Foodborne Illness Cost US Citizens $74,700,000,000.00 in 2023

Food Safety Magazine reports:

The latest Cost Estimates of Foodborne Illness data published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (USDA-ERS) suggests that the economic burden of foodborne illness in the U.S. for 2023 was $74.7 billion.

USDA-ERS’ estimates consider data on the costs of medical treatments, employment and wages, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data on the incidence of foodborne illness and associated hospitalizations and deaths, and peer-reviewed scientific research.

Of the $74.7 billion in estimated costs related to foodborne illnesses, the majority was attributed to serious illnesses caused by a specified pathogen. Although these illnesses represented only 20 percent of cases in 2023, they accounted for 60 percent of cost. Specifically, illnesses attributed to one of 31 major foodborne pathogens caused 9,388,133 cases costing $44,743,300,000 for a per-case cost of $4,766.

Conversely, milder foodborne illnesses for which the pathogen cause is not identified were responsible for 80 percent of cases and 40 percent of total cost in 2023. Specifically, unspecified foodborne gastroenteritis caused 38,392,704 costing $29,972,800,000 for a per-case cost of $781.

The USDA-ERS estimates also broke down costs for important pathogens, which vary due to the extent and severity of illnesses they cause. Pathogen-specific total costs ranged from $100,000 for the very rare cholera to $17 billion for nontyphoidal Salmonella. Average per-case cost by pathogen ranged from $196 for Bacillus cereus to $4.6 million for Vibrio vulnificus.

The number of cases, total cost, and cost per case for the 31 foodborne pathogens included in the report are as follows, ordered by total cost:

1. Nontyphoidal Salmonella: 1,027,561 cases, $17,127.0 million total cost, $16,667.6 per case
2. Campylobacter: 845,024 cases, $11,327.3 million total cost, $13,404.7 per case
3. Toxoplasma gondii: 86,753 cases, $5,719.3 million total cost, $65,926.3 per case
4. Listeria monocytogenes: 1,583 cases, $3,964.3 million total cost, $2,504,295.6 per case
5. Norovirus: 5,461,731 cases, $2,968.3 million total cost, $543.5 per case
6. Shigella: 131,254 cases, $1,683.5 million total cost, $12,826.3 per case
7. Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157: 63,153 cases, $457.1 million total cost, $7,238.0 per case
8. Vibrio vulnificus: 96 cases, $438.4 million total cost, $4,566,666.7 per case
9. Yersinia enterocolitica: 97,656 cases, $396.7 million total cost, $4,062.2 per case
10. Clostridium perfringens: 965,958 cases, $603.8 million total cost, $625.1 per case
11. Staphylococcus aureus: 241,148 cases, $177.8 million total cost, $737.3 per case
12. Clostridium botulinum: 55 cases, $115.6 million total cost, $2,101,818.2 per case
13. Vibrio, other: 17,564 cases, $102.5 million total cost, $5,835.8 per case
14. Hepatitis A virus: 1,566 cases, $97.7 million total cost, $62,388.3 per case
15. Vibrio parahaemolyticus: 34,664 cases, $76.8 million total cost, $2,215.6 per case
16. Cryptosporidium: 57,616 cases, $68.5 million total cost, $1,188.9 per case
17. Giardia intestinalis: 76,840 cases, $58.6 million total cost, $762.6 per case
18. Mycobacterium bovis: 60 cases, $43.7 million total cost, $728,333.3 per case
19. Non-O157 STEC: 112,752 cases, $46.8 million total cost, $415.1 per case
20. Brucella: 839 cases, $15.8 million total cost, $18,831.9 per case
21. Bacillus cereus: 63,400 cases, $12.4 million total cost, $195.6 per case
22. Rotavirus: 15,433 cases, $10.0 million total cost, $648.0 per case
23. Enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC): 17,894 cases, $5.5 million total cost, $307.4 per case
24. Cyclospora cayetanensis: 11,407 cases, $5.3 million total cost, $464.6 per case
25. Astrovirus: 15,433 cases, $4.8 million total cost, $311.0 per case
26. Diarrheagenic E. coli (other than STEC and ETEC): 11,982 cases, $3.7 million total cost, $308.8 per case
27. Sapovirus: 15,433 cases, $3.5 million total cost, $226.8 per case
28. Salmonella Typhi: 1,821 cases, $2.5 million total cost, $1,372.9 per case
29. Streptococcus, Group A: 11,217 cases, $2.6 million total cost, $231.8 per case
30. Trichinella: 156 cases, $0.3 million total cost, $1,923.1 per case
31. Toxigenic Vibrio cholerae: 84 cases, $0.1 million total cost, $1,190.5 per case.

The data provide a set of consistent estimates of the cost of U.S. foodborne illnesses that can be used by the public and regulatory agencies to understand the total impact of foodborne illnesses in the U.S. and the relative impact of different pathogen-specific foodborne pathogens and illnesses.

Republished with permission from Bill Marler and Marler Clark. Copyright (c) Marler Clark LLP, PS. All rights reserved.