WASHINGTON—Acute foodborne illnesses cost the United States an estimated $152 billion per year in healthcare, workplace and other economic losses, according to a report published by the Produce Safety Project (PSP).
“Health-Related Costs from Foodborne Illness in the United States” estimates that more than a quarter of these costs, an estimated $39 billion, are attributable to foodborne illnesses associated with fresh, canned and processed produce. The report also includes an interactive online map that graphically represents this cost information for every state in the nation.
The report ranks states according to their total costs related to foodborne illness and cost per case for an individual, which is $1,850 on average nationwide. The 10 states with the highest costs per case are Hawaii, Florida, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, the District of Columbia, Mississippi, New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey.
"The costs associated with foodborne illness are substantial," said author Robert L. Scharff, a former FDA economist who is now an assistant professor in the Department of Consumer Sciences at The Ohio State University. "This study puts the problem of foodborne illness in its proper perspective and should help facilitate reasonable action designed to mitigate this problem."
The release of the report comes as the U.S. Senate nears a vote on comprehensive food-safety legislation. The U.S. House of Representatives passed its food-safety bill (HR 2749) last July, and just before Thanksgiving, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions unanimously approved the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (S 510).
