WASHINGTON, March 5 (UPI) -- The total economic impact of U.S. foodborne illness is $152 billion -- or about $1,850 on average per patient, a U.S. study found.
"The costs associated with foodborne illness are substantial," report author Robert L. Scharff, a former Food and Drug Administration economist now at Ohio State University in Columbus, said in a statement. "This study puts the problem of foodborne illness in its proper perspective and should help facilitate reasonable action designed to mitigate this problem."
The report for the Produce Safety Project, an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts at Georgetown University, ranks states according to their total costs related to foodborne illness. The 10 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 report uses an FDA cost-estimate approach -- health-related costs are the sum of medical costs (physician services, pharmaceuticals and hospital costs) and losses to quality of life. The report also estimates the cost of illnesses associated specifically with produce, which is linked to the largest number of outbreaks involving FDA-regulated foods. For example, E. coli O157:H7 cases in produce accounted for 39 percent of outbreaks and 54 percent of illnesses.
The report and interactive map are at: MakeOurFoodSafe.org/cost_map.
