Foodborne disability-adjusted life years per 100 000

Rate of disability-adjusted life years per 100 000 population attributed to foodborne hazards

Foodborne diseases, foodborne illness, illness, food safety, burden of disease, foodborne disease burden epidemiology reference group, FERG.

Data is disaggregated by hazard (all hazards; diarrhoeal hazards; enteric intoxications, chemical hazards; invasive disease hazards) and age (all ages; less than 5 years of age; 5 years of age and over).

Several data sources are used to measure each hazard in this metadata category, including systematic reviews complemented with other literature sources, surveillance data and expert inputs.

For more details, please consult the following publication:

Devleesschauwer B, Vaes L, Fernandez K, Borghi E, Cao B, Fastl C, et al. Computational framework for the World Health Organization estimates of the global, regional and national burden of foodborne diseases 2026 edition; (https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.05.13.26353030) [Preprint].

Burden of disease estimation was approached using hazard-based and incidence-based methods. The hazard-based estimates encompassed all related sequelae specific to the hazard, and the incidence-based approach considered either current or past events to calculate Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) and their Years Lived with Disability (YLD) component. Incidence-based methods were preferred for foodborne disease studies being more sensitive to current epidemiological trends, consistency with hazard-based approaches and estimation of Years of Life Lost (YLLs). Prevalence-based methods were used when incidence data was lacking, estimating incidence based on prevalence and disease duration.

Probabilistic burden assessment. The DALY calculations were implemented in a probabilistic framework, using 1000 Monte Carlo simulations (or 500 for the hazards where IHME/GBD envelopes were used). The calculation process yielded estimates of incidence, mortality, YLD, YLL, and DALY, by hazard, age group, sex, country, and year. Estimates are produced as absolute numbers, rates per 100 000 population, and rates per case. Probability distributions were summarized by their mean and 95% uncertainty interval. Regional, global and hazard totals were obtained by aggregating country-level estimates within each Monte Carlo iteration. This approach preserved the full uncertainty structure during aggregation, rather than summing only point estimates.

Rate of disability-adjusted life years per 100 000 population

Following the Seventy-third World Health Assembly resolution on “Strengthening efforts on food safety” (WHA73.5), WHO will regularly monitor and provide updated estimates to the GHO that include national, regional and global level estimates of foodborne disease incidence, mortality and disease burden in terms of DALYs.

fbd-burden@who.int

Ms Yuki Minato

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• Complex, non‑standardized modelling due to multiple hazards, heterogeneous data sources, and hazard‑specific methods
• Parasite‑specific challenges arising from highly focal transmission patterns and variable symptom presentation
• Under‑ascertainment of infections caused by differing proportions of symptomatic vs. asymptomatic cases
• Higher uncertainty for chemical hazards because estimates rely heavily on comparative risk assessment
• Persistent data gaps, especially in low‑ and middle‑income countries, leading to extensive imputation
• High heterogeneity in available studies in design, diagnostics, case definitions, and geographic coverage
• Residual biases from underreporting, misclassification, and publication bias despite standardized review protocols
• Limited ability to produce detailed breakdowns such as time trends, age/sex distributions, or age‑standardized rates
• Wide uncertainty intervals for several hazards due to sparse or inconsistent data.
• Non‑exhaustive hazard coverage with emerging hazards (e.g., pesticides, Angiostrongylus spp., hepatitis E virus) not yet included
• No adjustments made for comorbidities
• No explicit modelling of global drivers such as COVID‑19, antimicrobial resistance, or climate change

Despite these limitations, the study provides valuable insights into the global burden of foodborne diseases and highlights the need for a sustainable, multisectoral response to reduce the burden of foodborne diseases globally.