A new World Health Organization report paints the most complete picture yet of the worldwide cost of foodborne diseases, which kill 420,000 people a year.
Those most at risk are children 5 and under, and the regions most affected are Africa and Southeast Asia, the report found.
The report includes estimates of the burden of foodborne diseases caused by 31 bacteria, viruses, parasites, chemicals and toxins, such as aflatoxin in maize or peanuts.
“These estimates are the result of a decade of work, including input from more than 100 experts from around the world. They are conservative, and more needs to be done to improve the availability of data on the burden of foodborne diseases. But based on what we know now, it is apparent that the global burden of foodborne diseases is considerable, affecting people all over the world – particularly children under 5 years of age and people in low-income areas,” says Dr Kazuaki Miyagishima, Director of WHO’s Department of Food Safety and Zoonoses.
The policy and social impact of this report will be discussed in detail at a symposium organized by WHO and the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), next week in Amsterdam.
In case you missed that link, it’s https://www.who.int/foodsafety/areas_work/foodborne-diseases/ferg/en/