Unsafe food causes 866 million illnesses and 1.5 million deaths annually, with young children at greatest risk

According to new estimates released today by the World Health Organization (WHO), children under the age of five face almost three times the risk of illness from unsafe food than older children and adults.

Despite making up only 9% of the world’s population, young children suffer from almost one-third of all cases of foodborne illness, especially diarrhea, which can be fatal for this vulnerable age group. In addition, exposure to chemical hazards such as methylmercury and lead in food can damage the developing brain and cause lifelong neurological and developmental problems in children.

WHO estimates that unsafe food causes about 866 million illnesses and 1.5 million deaths annually, many of which could be prevented by measures including improved water, sanitation and hygiene, food safety practices such as pasteurization and access to health care for vulnerable populations. Although the overall burden of foodborne disease has decreased since 2000, large regional disparities remain, with the greatest burden in Africa and Southeast Asia.

Exposure to biological hazards, including foodborne bacteria and viruses, as well as parasitic infections, accounted for the majority of foodborne illnesses (approximately 860 million in 2021), while exposure to chemicals caused a disproportionate share of deaths. In 2021, chemical hazards accounted for a staggering 73% of deaths caused by contaminated food. Most of these chemical-related deaths were related to inorganic arsenic (42%) and lead (31%), mainly because these exposures increase the risk of heart disease and cancer.

In addition to health impacts, the study estimates that in 2021, foodborne illnesses will lead to about $310 billion in lost productivity (time absent from work due to illness). When the economic impact was adjusted for differences in the cost of living between countries, the estimate rose to $647 billion in lost productivity.

“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’ve been missing 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 greatest. With this knowledge, governments can prioritize the actions needed to protect people’s health.”

Extended scope, sharper image

The new WHO analysis significantly expands the evidence base by assessing 42 major foodborne hazards, including bacteria, viruses, parasites and chemicals, from 194 countries from 2000 to 2021. The assessments now include new hazards including metals, rotavirus and Trypanosoma cruzi (a 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 enter the food chain, they are often difficult or impossible to remove. The WHO is calling on governments to prevent contamination at source – through better agricultural practices, stricter industrial controls and stricter environmental regulations.

While the presence of some metals in food has declined over time, these estimates reveal for the first time the burden of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and intellectual disability resulting from dietary metal exposure. Inorganic arsenic and lead are linked to more than a million deaths a year; methylmercury can damage the developing brain and cause lifelong neurological and developmental problems in children.

Capital crisis

Dietary developments, environmental pressures, globalization and inequities in food systems continue to shape who is most exposed to unsafe food. Children and people living in low-resource communities bear the greatest health burden, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. The regions of Africa and Southeast Asia together account for almost three quarters of all foodborne illnesses and 60% of deaths worldwide.

“This report is a wake-up call – but also a road sign. The data shows that foodborne diseases are not only persistent, but also exacerbated by climate change, which increases the risk of contamination, and antimicrobial resistance, which makes infections more difficult to treat. We cannot tackle these threats alone,” said Yuki Minato, WHO’s technical officer for food safety and senior author of the book. The Lancet Global Health paper. “The One Health approach – integrating human, animal, plant and environmental health – is key. Countries must act urgently, using these assessments to target interventions, invest in surveillance and break down silos between the health, agriculture and environment sectors. Delay costs lives.”

Note to editors

The assessment and data can be explored in detail through an interactive online dashboard and an updated Global Health Observatory pages with maps. The key findings were published in The Lancet Global Healthwith accompanying commentary and four papers focusing on specific risk groups and associated diseases.

The estimates cover 42 foodborne hazards, but many other potentially important hazards could not be included due to insufficient data. These include antibiotic-resistant bacteria, pesticide residues and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Other health outcomes, such as growth failure due to exposure to aflatoxin or enteropathogenic bacteria and stillbirth due to listeriosis, were also excluded. These failures underscore the urgent need for more national data, expanded investment in research, and increased surveillance to better describe the full extent of illness caused by more than 200 known biological hazards and numerous foodborne chemical hazards.

National-level data covering the years 2000 to 2021 help governments focus their policies and actions on areas with the highest burden. These assessments aim to support national risk rankings, enabling governments to benchmark food security threats, prioritize interventions, strengthen cross-sectoral collaboration and allocate resources more effectively.

World Food Safety Day

WHO publishes these updated estimates of foodborne diseases before World Food Safety Day June 7, 2026. This year’s theme is “From burden to solution – safe food everywhere”. The 2026 edition of the estimates, along with interactive data tools, provides a strong evidence base for the campaign, helping countries and partners turn data into targeted action to reduce the burden of food insecurity.

WHO experts will present these findings during a webinar on Thursday 4 June 2026 at 11:30 CEST/10:30 BST/5:30 ET.

For additional details and to register for the webinar:

WHO estimates of the global burden of foodborne disease 2000–2021: key findings from the 2026 edition.