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How much food poisoning occurs on the home level each year?
Hello! Thanks for your question about foodborne illness in the US caused by home-prepared food. The most useful sources I found to answer your question are the FDA (U.S. Food & Drug Administration) and CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) websites. According to my research, there are 5.76 million annual cases of food-borne illnesses in the US caused by home-prepared food. Below you will find a deep dive of my findings.
METHODOLOGY
I collected the data regarding the annual cases of foodborne illnesses in the US from the reports published by the FDA. I collected the data regarding the percentage of outbreaks caused by home-prepared foods from the annual reports on surveillance of foodborne illnesses published by the CDC. With these two figures, I calculated the annual number of cases caused by home-prepared foods.
The data regarding the percentage of outbreaks is from the 2014 report published by the CDC. This is the latest report available from the CDC.
OVERVIEW
The FDA reports that there are over 48 million foodborne illnesses in the US each year, indicating that nearly 1 in 6 people are sickened annually. The FDA reports 16 different types of organisms that can cause food poisoning, including those that result in botulism, listeriosis, and salmonellosis.
Food poisoning symptoms can first occur anywhere from 8 hours to 24 days after ingesting the tainted food. Common symptoms include diarrhea (sometime bloody), stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, fever, headache, and the sudden onset of other flu-like symptoms. The illness can last for anywhere to 24 hours to 10 days depending on the type of poisoning. With certain illness relapses can happen over a period of weeks and months.
Food poisoning can happen after eating undercooked meats (including poultry) and seafood, improperly canned food, improperly cleansed produce (particularly imported lettuce), contaminated water, unpasteurized dairy products, and improperly refrigerated foods. Though discussing food poisoning in general, and not specifically home-prepared foods, the 2014 CDC report says that "ground beef was the contaminated food or ingredient in five of the 25 multistate outbreaks." The report goes on to say that "fish (43 outbreaks), chicken (23), and dairy (19, of which 15 were due to unpasteurized products) were the most common single food categories implicated. The most outbreak-associated illnesses were from seeded vegetables (e.g. cucumbers or tomatoes, 428 illnesses), chicken (354), and dairy (267)."
CALCULATIONS
Annual cases of foodborne illnesses in the US caused by home-prepared food
=Annual cases * % of outbreaks caused by home-prepared food
= 48 million * 12%
= 5.76 million
CONCLUSION
To wrap it up, there are 5.76 million annual cases of food-borne illnesses in the US caused by home-prepared food. Thanks for using Wonder! Please let us know if we can help with anything else!