The disease transmitted by food kills hundreds of Americans per year, sick tens of millions annually and costs billions in medical care, lost productivity and premature deaths, federal investigators said in a report.
Approximately 10 million boxes of diseases transmitted by food each year in the US. They are caused by six pathogens: Salmonella, Listeria Monocytogenes, Campylobacter, Clostridium Perfringens, E. Coli Producer of Shiga and Norovirus toxins, according to a next study of The centers for disease control and prevention. Diseases result in 53,300 hospitalizations and more than 900 deaths annually, according to CDC estimates aforementioned This week for the United States Government Responsibility Office (GAO).
The economic impact of these diseases is severe, which costs approximately $ 75 billion (in 2023 dollars) annually, including the costs associated with secondary chronic diseases and conditions that develop after the initial disease, according to the findings published Monday by the Gao, who also cited research carried out by the Economic Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture.
The real count of people who get sick for eating food and probably much higher than official counts, since only a small percentage of diseases related to contaminated foods are also unknown and public health officials are informed. For each case of Salmonella detected through a laboratory test, for example, 29 diseases are caused by bacteria, estimates CDCs.
Last year, separate outbreaks from Salmonella linked to cucumbers and eggs He got more than 200 people in dozens of states, while Listeria outbreaks linked to meat and bird products sick 19, hospitalized 17 and killed two. A outbreak E. coli in the autumn of 2024 linked to organic carrots ill 48 people in 19 states, killing one. Other bound To the onions served in the hamburgers of McDonald’s Nursing more than 100 people in 14 states, resulting in death.
At least 30 federal laws govern the security and quality of the US food supply, both national and imported, and 15 federal agencies manage the rules, which is a “fragmented” supervision system, according to the GAO, a Federal Agency in charge of providing non -partisan information to Congress. GAO since 2007 has requested a national strategy to supervise food security.
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