Top Ten Food Safety Statistics

1.Number of people that are sickened each year in the United States due to a food-borne illness[Centers for Disease Control; Last Accessed 3.16.10]:

76 Million

2.Number of people that are hospitalized each year in the United States due to a food-borne illness [Centers for Disease Control; Last Accessed 3.16.10]:

325,000

3.Number of people that die each year in the United States due to a food-borne illness [Centers for Disease Control; Last Accessed 3.16.10]:

5,000

4.Amount that food-borne illnesses cost the United States each year [USA Today; Last Accessed 3.16.10] :

$152 Billion or
$1,850 per person

5.Percentage increase in the consumption of the product most likely to be associated with a food safety incident since 1992 [USDA; Last Accessed 3.6.10]:

                                                                180

6.Percentage increase in the incidence of salmonella infections since 1997 [Centers for Disease Control; Last Accessed 3.16.10]:

20

7.Number of countries that import food into the United States [Food Safety.Gov; Last Accessed 3.16.10]:

170

8.Decrease in the number of FDA inspections in foreign countries between 2001 and 2007 [GAO; Last Accessed 3.16.10]:

115

9.Decrease in the number of countries where the FDA conducted inspections between 2001 and 2007 [GAO; Last Accessed 3.16.10]:

15

10. Value of the domestic and imported food that is regulated by the FDA [Food and Drug Administration; Last Accessed 3.16.10]:

$417 Billion and
$49 Billion

Economic Impact of Recent Food Safety Incidents

1.Estimate of the immediate economic losses by the spinach industry due to E. Coli contamination of spinach in 2006 [GAO; Last Accessed 3.17.10]:

$37 to 74 Million

2.Estimates of the economic losses by the spinach industry one year after E. Coli contaminated spinach [USA Today; Last Accessed 3.17.10]:

$350 Million

3.Percentage reduction in spinach sales one year after E. Coli was detected in spinach [USA Today; Last Accessed 3.17.10]:

20 Percent

4.Estimated value of the amount of peanut butter recalled by one company due to salmonella contamination in 2007 [CIO; Last Accessed 3.17.10]:

$1 Billion

5.Estimated cost of the peanut butter recall incurred by one company due to salmonella contamination in 2007 [CIO; Last Accessed 3.17.10]:

$78 Million

6.Estimated cost to Florida’s tomato industry due to a mistaken salmonella finding in 2007 [Sarasota Herald Tribune; Last Accessed 3.17.10]:

$500 Million

7.Estimated cost to the nation’s peanut producers from the 2009 salmonella contamination of peanut butter [Associated Press; Last Accessed 3.17.10]:

$1 Billion

8.Percentage reduction in pistachio sales ($800 million industry) more than year after salmonella was detected [USA Today; Last Accessed 3.17.10]:

20

9.Estimated cost of the pet food suffered by one company due to melamine contamination in 2008 [USA Today, Last Accessed 3.17.10]:

$50 Million

10.Economic cost of food-borne illnesses to the produce industry per year [Produce Safety Project; Last Accessed 3.17.10]:

$39 Billion

Concern and Support Food Safety

1.Percent of Americans who stated that they “trust the Food and Drug Administration to ensure that the food I purchase is safe” in a 2009 survey [FMI; Last Accessed 3.18.10]:

76

2.Percent of Americans who stated that they are “somewhat, not too, or not at all confident” that the food they buy is safe in a January 2010 survey [CBS News; Last Accessed 3.18.10]:

68

3.Percent of Americans who gave the United States a grade of “C” or lower for ensuring the safety of the nation’s food in a January 2010 survey [CBS News; Last Accessed 3.18.10]:

58

4.Percent of Americans that said their confidence in the safety of the nation’s food supply had “somewhat” or “strongly” decreased in a November 2008 survey [Consumer Reports; Last Accessed 3.18.10]:

48

5.Percent of Americans that were aware of instances of food recalls due to health and safety concerns in a March 2009 survey [ASQ; Last Accessed 3.18.10]:

93

6.Percent of Americans that strongly or somewhat agree that “the government should have the ability to require a food recall when there are concerns about food safety” in a November 2008 survey [Consumer Reports; Last Accessed 3.18.10]:

98

7.Percent of Americans that support giving the FDA the authority to issue mandatory food recalls in a September 2009 survey [Hart/Public Opinion; Last Accessed 3.18.10]:

89

8.Percent of Americans that strongly or somewhat agree that “when food safety problems arise, the government should be able to quickly and accurately trace food from production to sale” in a November 2008 survey [Consumer Reports; Last Accessed 3.18.10]:

97

9.Percent of Americans that support requiring tracing systems that enable the FDA to trace food back to its source in a September 2009 survey [Hart/Public Opinion; Last Accessed 3.18.10]:

94

10.Percent of Americans that support requiring foreign countries that export food to the U.S. to certify that their food safety systems are as strong as ours in a September 2009 survey [Hart/Public Opinion; Last Accessed 3.18.10]:

92

Food Imports

1.Number of countries that currently import food into the United States [Food Safety.Gov; Last Accessed 3.16.10]:

170

2.Number of countries that imported food into the United States in 2007 [CRS; Last Accessed 3.19.10]:

150

3.Decrease in the number of FDA inspections in foreign countries between 2001 and 2007 [GAO; Last Accessed 3.16.10]:

115

4.Decrease in the number of countries where the FDA conducted inspections between 2001 and 2007 [GAO; Last Accessed 3.16.10]:

15

5.Number of food import shipments that were refused entry into the United States between 1998 and 2004 [USDA; Last Accessed 3.19.10]:

49,448

6.Number of food import safety violations reported between 1998 and 2004 [USDA; Last Accessed 3.19.10]:

70,369

7.Number of vegetable and vegetable product violations between 1998 and 2004 [USDA; Last Accessed 3.19.10]:

14,463

8.Percentage increase in the number of foreign vegetable and vegetable product shipments refused for importation by the FDA since 2000 [FDA Import Refusal Statistics; Last Accessed 3.18.10; hereand here]:

66

9.Number of salmonella safety import violations reported between 1998 and 2004 [USDA; Last Accessed 3.19.10]:

4,445

10.Value of the imported food that is regulated by the FDA [Food and Drug Administration; Last Accessed 3.16.10]:

$49 Billion