Food-Borne Illness May Kill 5,000 a Year

September 21, 1999

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released "the most complete estimate to date" on food-borne illnesses. Food-caused diseases "may cause" 325,000 serious illnesses that result in hospitalization, 76 million cases of gastrointestinal illnesses and 5,000 deaths a year.

"While the U.S. food supply remains one of the safest in the world, these new findings further support what we have said all along: the public health burden of food-borne disease is substantial," said Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala. "Our investments in better tracing and surveillance systems have resulted in more complete data to help us evaluate ongoing and future safety efforts."

The data in the latest report come from new and existing surveillance systems, death certificates and published studies form academic institutions. CDC Director Jeffrey Koplan says these are the most complete estimates ever calculated and should not be compared to previous estimates since the estimates are a result of better information and new analyses rather than changes in disease frequency over time.

"Novel" pathogens are emerging, says CDC, and familiar ones are growing resistant to treatment. Since 1942 the number of known food-borne pathogens has increased more than five-fold. U.S. consumers eat out more and cook for themselves less. They eat more processed food than ever, involving more people and more preparation, and that increases the chance for disease produced by food handling errors. Improved diagnosis may also be a factor that makes the growth in food-borne illness appear greater than it is.