Peer-reviewedCC BYThe Lancet Global Health
WHO estimates of the global, regional, and national burden of 42 foodborne infectious and chemical hazards, 2000–21: an updated data synthesis
28 affiliations
- 1Institute of Public Health and Forensic Science, Christchurch, New Zealand
- 2Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium; Department of Translational Physiology, Infectiology and Public health, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium
- 3School of Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
- 4Parasitology, Department of Paraclinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
- 5National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
- 6Unit of Nutrition and Cancer, Cancer Epidemiology Research Program, Catalan Institute of Oncology-ICO, Barcelona, Spain; Nutrition and Cancer Group, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute-IDIBELL, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
- 7National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
- 8Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA
- 9Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
- 10Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium
- 11Emerging Pathogens Institute, Global Food Systems Institute, Department of Animal Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
- 12Monitoring and Surveillance Unit, Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland
- 13School of Environmental Health Sciences, College of Health and Medical Sciences of Haramaya University, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia
- 14Department of Epidemiology and Health Economics, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands; Centre for Complex System Studies, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands; Interdisciplinary Center for the Mathematical Modeling of Infectious Disease Dynamics, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- 15Delft Institute of Applied Mathematics, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands
- 16George Washington University, Milken Institute School of Public Health, Washington, DC, USA; US Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Washington, DC, USA
- 17National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Center for Infectious Disease Control, Bilthoven, Netherlands; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
- 18Department of Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
- 19National Institute of Health Sciences, Division of Food Safety Information, Kawasaki, Japan
- 20Microbiology Laboratory, China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, Beijing, China
- 21Saudi Food and Drug Authority, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- 22Research Center for Public Health and Nutrition, National Research and Innovation Agency, Soekarno Science and Technology Area, Bogor, Indonesia
- 23Department of Molecular Biomedicine, CINVESTAV-IPN, Mexico City, Mexico
- 24Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi, India
- 25Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- 26Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
- 27Department of Food, Agricultural & Resource Economics, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada
- 28Monitoring and Surveillance Unit, Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: [email protected]
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Foodborne diseases are important causes of illness and death. The first estimates of their burden were published by WHO in 2015. We updated WHO estimates of the global, regional, subregional, and national foodborne disease burden caused by 42 infectious and chemical hazards in 2021, including time trends for 2000-21. METHODS: We provide a high-level summary of foodborne disease burden, expressed as incidence, deaths, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs). Data for burden estimation were provided from a WHO-commissioned series of systematic reviews on the incidence, aetiology, sequelae, and case fatality or mortality of the hazards. Data were analysed using hierarchical meta-regression modelling with geographical clustering and a global linear time trend, disease-specific computational models, and uncertainty propagation through Monte Carlo simulations to calculate 95% uncertainty intervals. Attribution to foodborne transmission was principally based on a structured expert judgement process. Economic impact was measured as lost productivity. FINDINGS: For 2021, foodborne transmission of the 42 hazards caused 866 million (95% uncertainty interval 680-1090) illnesses, 1·52 million (0·783-2·51) deaths, and 57·1 million (39·4-81·1) DALYs. Inorganic arsenic, lead, and non-typhoidal Salmonella enterica (diarrhoeal and invasive disease) resulted in the most DALYs. The greatest burden of foodborne disease was in the African and South-East Asia regions. The incidence in children younger than 5 years was 2·7 times higher than in people aged 5 years or older, resulting in 4·3 times the rate of DALYs. The total burden from all hazards decreased over time. In 2021, these 42 hazards resulted in productivity losses of US$310 billion in nominal terms, and US$647 billion after adjusting for purchasing power parity. INTERPRETATION: Foodborne diseases causes a burden similar to that from tuberculosis, HIV and AIDS, or malaria. The high burden of both communicable and non-communicable foodborne diseases requires countries to prioritise developing strategies to improve the safety of the food supply. FUNDING: WHO.
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BibTeX
@article{lake2026estimates,
title = {{WHO estimates of the global, regional, and national burden of 42 foodborne infectious and chemical hazards, 2000–21: an updated data synthesis}},
author = {Robin Lake and Brecht Devleesschauwer and Shannon E. Majowicz and Lucy Jane Robertson and Lea Sletting Jakobsen and Antonio Agudo and Sara Monteiro Pires and Martyn D. Kirk and Elaine Scallan Walter and Karen Helena Keddy and Carlotta Di Bari and Louise Vaes and Arie Hendrik Havelaar and Charlee Roberts and Tesfaye Gobena and Mirjam Kretzschmar and Gabriela F. Nane and Sandra Hoffmann and Lapo Mughini‐Gras and Banchob Sripa and Kunihiro Kubota and Luria Leslie Founou and Li Bai and Mohammed Al Huthiel and Tety Rachmawati and Teresa Estrada‐García and Ashok Kumar and Fadi Al Natour and Steven M. Jaffee and Spencer Henson and Luc Ingenbleek and Richard Kumapley and Elaine Borghi and Yuki Minato},
journal = {The Lancet Global Health},
year = {2026},
month = jun,
doi = {10.1016/j.langlo.2026.103994},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langlo.2026.103994},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - WHO estimates of the global, regional, and national burden of 42 foodborne infectious and chemical hazards, 2000–21: an updated data synthesis
AU - Robin Lake
AU - Brecht Devleesschauwer
AU - Shannon E. Majowicz
AU - Lucy Jane Robertson
AU - Lea Sletting Jakobsen
AU - Antonio Agudo
AU - Sara Monteiro Pires
AU - Martyn D. Kirk
AU - Elaine Scallan Walter
AU - Karen Helena Keddy
AU - Carlotta Di Bari
AU - Louise Vaes
AU - Arie Hendrik Havelaar
AU - Charlee Roberts
AU - Tesfaye Gobena
AU - Mirjam Kretzschmar
AU - Gabriela F. Nane
AU - Sandra Hoffmann
AU - Lapo Mughini‐Gras
AU - Banchob Sripa
AU - Kunihiro Kubota
AU - Luria Leslie Founou
AU - Li Bai
AU - Mohammed Al Huthiel
AU - Tety Rachmawati
AU - Teresa Estrada‐García
AU - Ashok Kumar
AU - Fadi Al Natour
AU - Steven M. Jaffee
AU - Spencer Henson
AU - Luc Ingenbleek
AU - Richard Kumapley
AU - Elaine Borghi
AU - Yuki Minato
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/06/03
JO - The Lancet Global Health
DO - 10.1016/j.langlo.2026.103994
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langlo.2026.103994
AB - BACKGROUND: Foodborne diseases are important causes of illness and death. The first estimates of their burden were published by WHO in 2015. We updated WHO estimates of the global, regional, subregional, and national foodborne disease burden caused by 42 infectious and chemical hazards in 2021, including time trends for 2000-21. METHODS: We provide a high-level summary of foodborne disease burden, expressed as incidence, deaths, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs). Data for burden estimation were provided from a WHO-commissioned series of systematic reviews on the incidence, aetiology, sequelae, and case fatality or mortality of the hazards. Data were analysed using hierarchical meta-regression modelling with geographical clustering and a global linear time trend, disease-specific computational models, and uncertainty propagation through Monte Carlo simulations to calculate 95% uncertainty intervals. Attribution to foodborne transmission was principally based on a structured expert judgement process. Economic impact was measured as lost productivity. FINDINGS: For 2021, foodborne transmission of the 42 hazards caused 866 million (95% uncertainty interval 680-1090) illnesses, 1·52 million (0·783-2·51) deaths, and 57·1 million (39·4-81·1) DALYs. Inorganic arsenic, lead, and non-typhoidal Salmonella enterica (diarrhoeal and invasive disease) resulted in the most DALYs. The greatest burden of foodborne disease was in the African and South-East Asia regions. The incidence in children younger than 5 years was 2·7 times higher than in people aged 5 years or older, resulting in 4·3 times the rate of DALYs. The total burden from all hazards decreased over time. In 2021, these 42 hazards resulted in productivity losses of US$310 billion in nominal terms, and US$647 billion after adjusting for purchasing power parity. INTERPRETATION: Foodborne diseases causes a burden similar to that from tuberculosis, HIV and AIDS, or malaria. The high burden of both communicable and non-communicable foodborne diseases requires countries to prioritise developing strategies to improve the safety of the food supply. FUNDING: WHO.
SN - 2214-109X
SN - 2572-116X
ER -