Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42235567›Full record

ReviewThe Lancet. Global health2026

WHO estimates of the global, regional, and national burden of 42 foodborne infectious and chemical hazards, 2000-21: an updated data synthesis.

Robin J Lake, Brecht Devleesschauwer, Shannon E Majowicz, Lucy J Robertson, Lea Sletting Jakobsen, Antonio Agudo, Sara M Pires, Martyn D Kirk, Elaine Scallan Walter, Karen H Keddy and 25 more

Abstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in The Lancet. Global health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Dominance ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026
    Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

35 authors.

Robin J LakeInstitute of Public Health and Forensic Science, Christchurch, New Zealand.
Brecht DevleesschauwerDepartment of Epidemiology and Public Health, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium; Department of Translational Physiology, Infectiology and Public health, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium.
Shannon E MajowiczSchool of Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
Lucy J RobertsonParasitology, Department of Paraclinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway.
Lea Sletting JakobsenNational Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark.
Antonio AgudoUnit 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.
Sara M PiresNational Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark.
Martyn D KirkNational Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
Elaine Scallan WalterColorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA.
Karen H KeddyDepartment of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Carlotta di BariDepartment of Epidemiology and Public Health, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium; Department of Translational Physiology, Infectiology and Public health, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium.
Louise VaesDepartment of Epidemiology and Public Health, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium.
Arie H HavelaarEmerging Pathogens Institute, Global Food Systems Institute, Department of Animal Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Charlee RobertsMonitoring and Surveillance Unit, Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland.
Tesfaye GobenaSchool of Environmental Health Sciences, College of Health and Medical Sciences of Haramaya University, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.
Mirjam E KretzschmarDepartment 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.
Gabriela F NaneDelft Institute of Applied Mathematics, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands.
Sandra HoffmannGeorge Washington University, Milken Institute School of Public Health, Washington, DC, USA; US Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Washington, DC, USA.
Lapo Mughini-GrasNational Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Center for Infectious Disease Control, Bilthoven, Netherlands; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands.
Banchob SripaDepartment of Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand.
Kunihiro KubotaNational Institute of Health Sciences, Division of Food Safety Information, Kawasaki, Japan.
Luria Leslie FounouReproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Research Unit, Research Institute of the Centre of Expertise and Biological Diagnostic of Cameroon, Yaounde, Cameroon; Antimicrobial Research Unit, School of Health Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa; Infection and Global Health Division, School of Medicine, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK.
Li BaiMicrobiology Laboratory, China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, Beijing, China.
Mohammed Al HuthielSaudi Food and Drug Authority, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Tety RachmawatiResearch Center for Public Health and Nutrition, National Research and Innovation Agency, Soekarno Science and Technology Area, Bogor, Indonesia.
Teresa Estrada-GarciaDepartment of Molecular Biomedicine, CINVESTAV-IPN, Mexico City, Mexico.
Ashok KumarIndian Council of Agricultural Research, Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi, India.
Fadi Al NatourAbu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Steven JaffeeDepartment of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
Spencer HensonDepartment of Food, Agricultural & Resource Economics, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada.
Luc IngenbleekMonitoring and Surveillance Unit, Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland.
Richard KumapleyMonitoring and Surveillance Unit, Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland.
Elaine BorghiMonitoring and Surveillance Unit, Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland.
Yuki MinatoMonitoring and Surveillance Unit, Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: minatoy@who.int.
WHO Foodborne Disease Burden Epidemiology Reference Group for 2021–25

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundFoodborne 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.

methodsWe 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.

findingsFor 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.

interpretationFoodborne 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.

fundingWHO.

Indexed as

Cost of IllnessFoodborne DiseasesGlobal HealthDisability-Adjusted Life YearsGlobal Burden of DiseaseHumansIncidenceWorld Health Organization

Identifiers

PMID42235567
PMCPMC13433341

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.