The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that food contaminated with harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites, or chemicals kills around 1.5 million people worldwide every year, with young children being the most affected.
After analyzing 194 countries between 2000 and 2021, the United Nations health agency found that 886 million people contract an illness linked to the consumption of unsafe food a year, with children under 5 years old nearly three times more likely to be at risk.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said food safety is not an abstract issue, as it affects every meal, every family, and everyday life.
Although the overall number of food-related illnesses has declined since 2000, major regional disparities continue to exist. Africa and Southeast Asia account for nearly three-quarters of all food-borne disease cases and around 60 percent of related deaths worldwide.
In 2021, biological hazards such as bacteria and viruses were responsible for the vast majority of the estimated 860 million food-borne illness cases. However, chemical contamination caused a disproportionate number of deaths, with arsenic and lead poisoning identified as the leading non-biological causes.
Yuki Minato, WHO technical officer for food safety, said the findings show that food-borne diseases remain a persistent problem and are being worsened by climate change, which increases the risk of contamination, and antimicrobial resistance, which makes infections more difficult to treat.
Beyond the impact on public health, the study estimated that food-borne diseases resulted in global economic losses of approximately 647 billion dollars in reduced productivity in 2021.
