NEW DELHI: Food exposed to bacteria, viruses, parasites as well as chemical hazards has led to 1.5 million deaths annually, with children, under five years, facing the maximum risk, according to new estimates released by WHO on Thursday.
Noting that unsafe food has caused around 866 million illnesses, the World Health Organisation (WHO) report said that many of these could have been prevented with measures including improved water, sanitation and hygiene, food safety practices such as pasteurization and access to health care for vulnerable populations.
The UN health body called on governments to prevent contamination at the source – through better agricultural practices, stricter industrial controls and stronger environmental regulations.
While the presence of some metals in food has been decreasing over time, the new estimates reveal for the first time the burden of cardiovascular diseases, cancers, and intellectual disability resulting from dietary exposure to metals.
“Food safety is not an abstract issue - it touches every meal, every family, every day. Unsafe food has always been a major public health concern, but until now we lacked the bigger picture of its staggering human and economic toll. These new estimates change that,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
“For the first time, countries have their own data to see where the burden is highest. With that knowledge, governments can prioritize the actions needed to protect people’s health.”
The report said that children face almost three times the risk of illness from unsafe food than older children and adults.
“Despite being just 9% of the global population, young children suffer from nearly one third of all cases of foodborne diseases, particularly diarrhoeal diseases which can be deadly for this vulnerable age group,” it said.
In addition, exposure to chemical hazards such as methylmercury and lead in food can harm the developing brain and cause lifelong neurological and developmental problems in children.
Although the total foodborne disease burden has declined since 2000, major regional inequalities persist, with the greatest burden in Africa and South-East Asia regions which together account for nearly three-quarters of all foodborne illnesses and 60% of global deaths.
Exposure to biological hazards, including foodborne bacteria and viruses as well as parasitic infections, caused the majority of foodborne illnesses (approximately 860 million in 2021), while chemical exposures drove a disproportionate share of deaths, the report said.
In 2021, chemical hazards accounted for a striking 73% of deaths due to contaminated food.
Most of these chemical-related deaths were linked to inorganic arsenic (42%) and lead (31%), largely because these exposures increase the risk of heart disease and cancers.
The study, which analysed 194 countries between 2000-2021, found that foodborne disease led to about US$ 310 billion in lost productivity (time away from work due to illness). When the economic impact was adjusted for cost-of-living differences between countries, the estimate increased to US$ 647 billion in lost productivity.
WHO expanded its evidence base by assessing 42 major foodborne hazards, including bacteria, viruses, parasites and chemicals. It also included new hazards including metals, rotavirus, and Trypanosoma cruzi (the parasite that causes Chagas disease).
Food can be contaminated with chemicals such as inorganic arsenic, lead and methylmercury from natural sources and human activities. Once these substances have entered the food chain, they are often difficult or impossible to remove.
Evolving diets, environmental pressures, globalization and inequalities in food systems continue to shape who is most exposed to unsafe food.
Children and people living in low-resource communities experience the greatest health burden, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
“This report is a wake‑up call – but also a roadmap. The data show that foodborne diseases are not only persistent but are being made worse by climate change, which increases contamination risks, and by antimicrobial resistance, which makes infections harder to treat. We cannot tackle these threats alone,” said Yuki Minato, WHO technical officer for food safety and senior author of The Lancet Global Health paper.
“A One Health approach – integrating human, animal, plant, and environmental health – is essential. Countries must act urgently, using these estimates to target interventions, invest in surveillance, and break down the silos between health, agriculture and environment sectors. Delay costs lives.”
The estimates cover 42 foodborne hazards, but many other potentially important hazards could not be included due to insufficient data. These include antimicrobial resistant bacteria, pesticide residues, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
Other health outcomes, such as growth impairment from aflatoxin exposure or enteropathogenic bacteria, and stillbirth due to listeriosis, were also excluded.
These omissions highlight the urgent need for more national data, expanded investment in research, and strengthened surveillance to better characterize the full extent of illness caused by more than 200 known biological hazards and numerous chemical hazards transmissible via food.
The report was released ahead of World Food Safety Day on June 7. This year’s theme is “From burden to solutions – safe food everywhere.”