A recent review authored by researchers from Ohio State University has established pathogen-specific foodborne illness burden estimates for leafy greens in the U.S. by combining three outbreak-based attribution models with illness incidence and economic cost models.
The researchers found that, annually in the U.S., leafy greens are responsible for up to 9.18 percent of all known foodborne illnesses caused by a pathogen, resulting in health-related costs of up to $5.278 billion. Excluding pathogens associated with small outbreaks, norovirus, non-O157 and O157:H7 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), Campylobacter, and nontyphoidal Salmonella are responsible for the greatest number of illnesses caused by contaminated leafy greens and the highest related costs.