Annual Reports on Foodborne Illness Source Attribution Estimates
Foodborne Illness Source Attribution Estimates for Salmonella, Escherichia coli O157, and Listeria monocytogenes Using Multi-Year Outbreak Surveillance Data, United States
Suggested citation:
Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration. Foodborne illness source attribution estimates for {Year} for Salmonella, Escherichia coli O157, and Listeria monocytogenes using multi-year outbreak surveillance data, United States. Atlanta, Georgia and Washington, District of Columbia: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CDC, FDA, USDA/FSIS. {Publication Year, example: 2022.}
About the Reports
These reports use outbreak data to produce annual estimates for foods responsible for foodborne illnesses caused by four pathogens. CDC estimates that, together, these four pathogens cause 1.9 million foodborne illnesses in the United States each year. The analysis uses a method developed by IFSAC to estimate foodborne illness source attribution, which is the process of estimating the degree to which specific foods and food categories are responsible for foodborne illnesses.
Latest Report for 2020
IFSAC analyzed data from 1,287 foodborne disease outbreaks that occurred from 1998 through 2020 to assess which categories of foods were most responsible for Salmonella, E. coli O157, and Listeria monocytogenes infections. These pathogens were chosen because of the frequency or severity of the illnesses they cause, and because targeted interventions can have a major impact in reducing them. The implicated foods were divided into 17 categories for the analysis, and the method gives the greatest weight to the most recent five years of outbreak data (2016–2020).
Read the 2020 report [PDF – 15 pages]
Previous Reports
Read the 2019 report [PDF – 14 pages]
Read the 2018 report [PDF – 15 pages]
Read the 2017 report [PDF – 15 pages]
Read the 2016 report [PDF – 14 pages]
Read the 2015 report [PDF – 14 pages]
Read the 2014 report [PDF – 14 pages]