Cost of Food-borne Illness

The Produce Safety Project ranked states by "estimated total costs related to food-borne illnesses per year."

As one would expect, the larger the state, the larger the cost. Ohio ranks 6th with an estimated cost of $5.8 billion per year. (cf. The Plain Dealer, 3/3/2010). California ranks highest with an annual cost of $18.6 billion.

Not sure of the details of a solution, I do know that these illnesses are preventable and our society is wasting many billions of dollars each year because of contaminated produce. And that does not address the issue of the pain and suffering of those who become ill because of the contamination.