Foodborne Illness Costs Australia $3 Billion Each Year, Up $200 Million From 2023
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Preliminary figures from Food Safety Australia New Zealand’s (FSANZ’s) 2025 foodborne illness economic burden estimate suggest that foodborne illness costs the Australian economy approximately $3 billion AUD each year, up from the $2.81 billion estimated in 2023.
The latest estimate is based on data as current as March 2025. According to the data, approximately one quarter of Australia’s annual gastroenteritis cases are linked to contaminated food.
Additionally, the latest modeling shows that Campylobacter is the costliest foodborne pathogen in Australia, with an annual economic burden of $517 million. Norovirus, Escherichia coli, and non-typhoidal Salmonella each cost the economy more than $150 million each year.
Although the majority of the economic burden of foodborne illness is attributed to lost workforce productivity, highly pathogenic bacteria like Listeria monocytogenes, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, and Salmonella also have significant costs associated with hospitalization and premature death.
The model used to estimate the economic burden of foodborne illness was originally developed in 2021 by the Australian National University, and was updated in 2025 using the latest data to re-estimate the cost of foodborne illness caused by ten priority pathogens and four long-term health outcomes.
A full summary of the 2025 foodborne illness cost estimates will be published on the FSANZ website once finalized.
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