A report published by the Produce Safety Project, an initiative of the Pew Charitable Trusts at Georgetown University, estimates the total cost of food-borne illnesses in the United States at $152 billion per year. The report titled "Health-Related Costs from Foodborne Illness in the United States" emphasizes illnesses related to FDA-regulated foods such as produce and is being used to push for Senate action on legislation passed by the House of Representatives last summer that would overhaul the Food and Drug Administration.
When compared to a 1999 study put together by the Centers for Disease Control, the cost estimate soars over the previous estimates. Also, it broadened both the array of pathogens and the types of costs to include medical costs, quality of life losses and the costs to others in society such as lost productivity, as well as the costs to the person made ill. Representative Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who has pushed for consolidating food safety regulation under a single agency, called the report shockingly high.
The new report put the price of campylobactyer-related illnesses at $18.8 billion per year. It put those linked to salmonella at $14.6 billion and listeria-associated costs at $8.8 billion annually. As for E. coli O157:H7, the report said 39% of outbreaks and 54% of illnesses linked to FDA-regulated food items were attributable to produce at an estimated foodborne illness cost of $39 billion per year.
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