Costs of Illness

Food safety risk management will often require an estimate of the costs associated with foodborne illnesses. These estimates often require data that are not readily available. The use of proxy datasets, a sort of "costs transfer" notion, may often be the best one can do in the near term. In this section we offer some links to sites that may be helpful to economists trying to estimate the costs of illness.

A few articles and reports are listed. There are numerous links to health care and related cost data that may be useful to a clever economist. A few links to large social survey datasets are also provided because, they too, may be of use.

Format	Author(s)	Title / Description	Date added	Details
	Institute for Social Research	Archives of the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) Website for accessing the holdings of the ICPSR. Includes link to a database of studies held by ICPSR, searchable by title, PI, abstract, and ICPSR study number, which leads to a variety of downloadable datasets and reports. (more)	Aug 31, 2001
	Kuchler, Fred, and Elise Golan	Assigning Values to Life: Comparing Methods for Valuing Health Risks This report discusses approaches economists and health policy analysts use for evaluating policy that affects health and safety: cost-of-illness, willingness-to-pay, cost-effectiveness analysis, risk-risk analysis, and health-health analysis. (more) Publication Month: December 1999	Jul 10, 2002
	Buzby,Jean C.; Roberts, Tanya; Lin, C.T. Jordan; MacDonald, James M.	Bacterial Foodborne Disease: Medical Costs and Productivity Losses Paper on the economic consequences of bacterial foodborne disease in the US. Publication Month: August 1996	Aug 31, 2001
	Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture	Briefing Room: Economics of Foodborne Disease This page provides an overview of costs associated with foodborne disease as well as links to publications, data, and information on the economic impacts of E. coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella, and other pathogens. (more)	Jul 10, 2002
	BT Safety LLC	BT Safety LLC: Building Technologies for Safety Company that builds software systems and predictive modeling tools to facilitate rapid and effective response to food security and food safety threats. Products include the Food Source Identification and Tracking System (FSITS) model which can be used to simulate the effects of a food contamination event and the Food Event Manager (FEM) model which can be used to support government officials in responding to an actual foodborne outbreak. (more)	May 19, 2005
	Lieberman, Joseph I.	Bush Administration Policy Shows No Respect for Seniors: Americans 70 and Over Valued Less When Calculating Benefits of Regulation: Lieberman Asks for Policy Renunciation Release and letter by Sen. Lieberman regarding Lieberman's views on the practices of adjusting for age in calculating the value of a life. (more) Publication Date: Tuesday, May 20, 2003	Jul 2, 2003
	Centers for Disease Control and Prevention	CDC Web Search Allows you to search the CDC and National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) sites.	Apr 26, 2002
	Ralston, Katherine, C. Philip Brent, Yolanda Starke, Toija Riggins, and C.T. Jordan Lin	Consumer Food Safety Behavior: A Case Study in Hamburger Cooking and Ordering Report on the changing attitudes of consumers towards hamburger doneness, as seen through their home preparation and hamburger ordering behaviors. It discusses the reasons for the changes, the savings in medical costs for foodborne illness as a result of the changes, and the effects of the findings on future food safety education practices. Data is provided in tables on hamburger color, hamburger doneness, consumer knowledge and attitudes, demographic characteristics, and more. An appendix is provided entitled "An Economic Model of Risk and Palatability in Doneness Choice". (more) Publication Month: May 2002	Oct 7, 2002
	Media Centre, World Health Organization	Cost of Diabetes This fact sheet discusses the direct, indirect, and intangible costs of diabetes, as well as some primary and secondary prevention measures. (more) Publication Month: September 2002	Nov 12, 2003
	Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Environmental Protection Agency	Cost of Illness Handbook On-line access to the COI Handbook, which gives estimates of the lower bound cost of medical care for a number of environmentally-related illnesses. (more)	Aug 31, 2001
	Mathews, Jr., Kenneth; Buzby, Jean	Dissecting the Challenges of Mad Cow and Foot-and-Mouth Disease This report describes the differences between BSE and FMD and their risks to humans and animals, and also gives estimated economic impacts to the UK from these diseases. (more) Publication Month: August 2001	Jul 11, 2002
	Crutchfield, Stephen R.; Buzby, Jean C.; Roberts, Tanya; Ollinger, Michael; Lin, C.T. Jordan	Economic Assessment of Food Safety Regulations: The New Approach to Meat and Poultry Inspection This report discusses the economic implications of the implementation of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) systems in federally inspected processors and slaughterhouses. (more) Publication Month: July 1997	Aug 31, 2001
	Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, Iowa State University/Food Safety Research Consortium	Economic Measures of Interventions: Building a Framework for Prioritizing Opportunities to Reduce Food Safety Risk Presentations and paper from this workshop held December 2-3, 2004 at Amherst, MA. Sessions included "Approaches to Integrative Modeling for Food Safety Interventions," "How Good Is the Match Between These Approaches and How Should Risk Management Decisions Be Made? Viewpoints," and "Relevant Studies of Modeling Effects, Benefits, and Costs." The paper is entitled "Approaches to Examining HACCP Costs and Food Safety Performance and Technologies," by Michael Ollinger and Danna Moore. (more) Event Dates: Thursday, December 2, 2004 - Friday, December 3, 2004 Publication Date: Friday, December 3, 2004	May 25, 2005
	Health Services and Economics Branch, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health	Economics of Cancer & Cancer Trials Abstracts of publications on the costs of cancer and cancer care.	Aug 31, 2001
	Philipson, Tomas; Dai, Carolanne; Helmchen, Lorens; Variyam, Jayachandran	The Economics of Obesity: A Report on the Workshop Held at USDA's Economic Research Service Report of a workshop on the Economics of Obesity held April 22, 2003 in Washington, DC. Includes discussion of the causes or contributing factors to increased obesity, economic incentives to reducing obesity, methodology for assessing diet and physical activity, and future research needs. The workshop agenda is included as an appendix. (more) Publication Month: May 2004	Jun 3, 2004
	Food and Drug Administration	Establishment and Maintenance of Records Under the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 Final rule requiring the establishment and maintenance of records under the Bioterrorism Act. Includes discussion of changes to the proposed rule, comments on the proposed rule and FDA's responses, the regulatory impact analysis, and more. (more) Publication Date: Thursday, December 9, 2004	Dec 10, 2004
	Buzby, Jean C.; Roberts, Tanya; Allos, Ban Mishu	Estimated Annual Costs of Campylobacter-Associated Guillain-Barre Syndrome Paper estimates the economic impacts of Campylobacter jejuni-induced Guillain-Barre Syndrome from food and other sources. (more) Publication Month: July 1997	Aug 31, 2001
	Eyre, Charlotte	EU Bans UK Exports after FMD Scare The European Commission has banned all UK exports of live animals, as well as meat and dairy products, after Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) was found on a UK farm last Friday, according to Forbes magazine. (more) Publication Date: Monday, August 6, 2007	Aug 7, 2007
	Hearne, Shelley A.; Segal, Laura M.; Unruh, Patti J.; Earls, Michael J.; Smolarcik, Paul	F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies are Failing in America Report on state and national obesity policies and programs. Includes discussion of overweight and obesity levels, related disease levels, and related costs for each state, school-based programs to combat obesity, state policies and actions regarding obesity, federal responsibilities and policies regarding obesity, and recommendations. Appendices include "Healthy People" and "Background and Data Sources for Indicators and Methodology Used in this Report". (more) Publication Month: October 2004	Nov 9, 2004
	Robertson, Aileen, et al. (Eds.)	Food and Health in Europe: a New Basis for Action This publication, designed for health professionals, addresses issues and evidence related to food and nutrition policies in Europe. Includes discussion of such topics as food safety risk assessment, diet-related diseases, and more. Annexes include "The First Action Plan for Food and Nutrition Policy, WHO European Region, 2000-2005" and "International and selected national recommendations on nutrient intake values". (more) Publication Year: 2004	Feb 10, 2004
	Regional Office for Europe, World Health Organization	Food and Health in Europe: a New Basis for Action - Summary This booklet summarizes a forthcoming publication for policy-makers on food and nutrition policy. Includes discussion of the costs of food- and nutrition-related illness, and of what action needs to be taken in food and nutrition policy-making. The booklet is available online, or may be ordered in print. (more) Publication Year: 2002	Mar 12, 2003
	Food Safety and Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture	Food Standards: Requirements for Substitute Standardized Meat and Poultry Products Named by Use of an Expressed Nutrient Content Claim and a Standardized Term "In this final rule, FSIS is establishing a general definition and standard of identity for standardized meat and poultry products that have been modified to qualify for use of an expressed nutrient content claim in their product names in conjunction with a standardized term." Includes responses to comments on the proposed rule, discussion of costs and benefits, and more. (more) Publication Date: Friday, June 10, 2005	Jun 10, 2005
	Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture	Foodborne Illness Cost Calculator Tool for estimating the costs of illness for selected foodborne illnesses. Assumptions used in the estimate may be changed to reflect the desired scenario. ERS calculated costs are also given, and the assumptions used in calculating these costs may be examined. (more)	Jun 5, 2003
	OMB Watch	Graham Advises Agencies on Valuing Lives of Seniors This article discusses the debate over how to value the lives of seniors and highlights statements by John Graham, administrator of the OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, on this topic. (more) Publication Date: Monday, June 16, 2003	Jul 1, 2003
	Buzby, Jean C.; Frenzen, Paul D.	Juries Award Higher Amounts for Severe Foodborne Illnesses This article discusses a study on the verdicts and awards to plaintiffs in a sample of foodborne illness lawsuits. Publication Month: February 2004	Mar 31, 2004
	Schmidhuber, Josef	Long-Term Changes in Food Consumption Patterns: Emerging Concerns and Policy Options This document was prepared for the FAO Scientific Workshop on Globalization of the Food System: Impacts on Food Security and Nutrition, held October 8-10, 2003, in Rome. It discusses changes in food consumption patterns and nutrition, drivers of these changes, and the effects of these changes on future levels of diet-related diseases and obesity. Policy options are also discussed. (more) Publication Month: October 2003	Feb 12, 2004
	Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture	Market Context for BSE This page links to various USDA resources related to market information, food safety, and trade.	Jan 14, 2004
	MarketResearch.com	MarketResearch.com Source for purchasing market research information. Site includes a collection of over 50,000 publications from over 350 research firms that cover topics including biotechnology, business, country reports, demographics, food and beverage, healthcare and medical devices, pharmaceuticals, public sector, retailing and services, energy and resources, and more. (more)	Jun 12, 2002
	Graham, John D.	Memorandum from John D. Graham to the President's Management Council on "Benefit-Cost Methods and Lifesaving Rules" This memo presents Graham's recommendations regarding the use of age-adjustment factors in benefit-cost analysis. Publication Date: Friday, May 30, 2003	Jul 2, 2003
	Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/American Stroke Association, American Heart Association	A Nation at Risk: Obesity in the United States Sourcebook with information on the prevalence of overweight and obesity, disparities and obesity, health and financial consequences of obesity, causes of obesity, and more. Appendices include "Body Mass Index (BMI)". (more)	Jul 22, 2005
	Hammitt, James; Haninger, Kevin	New Willingness to Pay Estimates of the Demand for Food Safety This presentation discusses the new WTP estimates of the demand for food safety. It was presented at the 2007 IRAC-sponsored Public Conference 'Risk Assessment, Economic Analysis, and Foodborne Illness Regulations'. Paper for the presentation is available from this link. (more) Publication Date: Tuesday, November 27, 2007	Nov 30, 2007
	Taniguchi, Kiyoshi; Wang, Xiaojun (Eds.)	Nutrition Intake and Economic Growth: Studies on the Cost of Hunger Collection of works related to the relationship between nutrition intake and economic growth. Contents include "Micro- and Macroevidence on the Impact of Undernourishment"/Broca, Sumiter and Stamoulis, Kostas; "Does Better Nutrition Enhance Economic Growth? Impact of Undernourishment"/Wang, Xiaojun and Taniguchi, Kiyoshi; and "Learning by Eating: Evidence from Sri Lanka"/Ganegodage, K. Renuka, Taniguchi, Kiyoshi, and Wang, Xiaojun. Includes an annex entitled "Testing for Unit Roots". (more) Publication Year: 2003	Jan 23, 2004
	Irish Department of Health and Children	Obesity - the Policy Challenges: The Report of the National Taskforce on Obesity Report on overweight and obesity in Ireland. Includes discussion of the extent of the problem, trends in diet and physical activity, costs of obesity, challenges and potential interventions, and recommendations for combating obesity. (more) Publication Year: 2005	Jul 7, 2005
	Outbreak Inc.	Outbreak: Litigation Consultants for the Food Industry This company provides consulting services to the food industry regarding food safety. The website includes information about their services, news stories related to foodborne illness lawsuits, and links to related resources. (more)	Apr 7, 2004
	Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention	Overweight and Obesity: Economic Consequences This page provides information and data on the costs of obesity at the national and state levels.	Aug 18, 2004
	Centers for Disease Control and Prevention	Power of Prevention: Reducing the Health and Economic Burden of Chronic Disease Report on chronic diseases and the need to prevent them. Includes discussion of the costs of chronic diseases (including obesity) and risk factors (including poor nutrition). A chronic disease prevention agenda is presented. (more) Publication Year: 2003	Jul 9, 2003
	Committee on Prevention of Obesity in Children and Youth, Food and Nutrition Board, Board on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Institute of Medicine	Preventing Childhood Obesity: Health in the Balance Report that presents an action plan for reducing the prevalence of childhood obesity. It includes discussion of the extent, consequences, and costs of childhood obesity, as well as recommendations for industry, advertising, media, public education, communities, schools, and home. Appendices include "Literature Review," "Lessons Learned from Public Health Efforts and Their Relevance to Preventing Childhood Obesity," and more. (more) Publication Year: 2005	Oct 26, 2004
	World Health Organization	Preventing Chronic Diseases: a Vital Investment Report on combating the threat of chronic disease. Includes discussion of risk factors, burden of chronic disease, economic impact, evidence-based interventions, approaches to combat chronic disease, and more. Annexes include "Methods for projections of mortality and burden of disease to 2015," "Economic analysis methods," "The WHO-CHOICE method," and more. Related fact sheets and other resources are also accessible from this page. (more) Deadline: Tuesday, October 11, 2005 Publication Year: 2005	Oct 11, 2005
	Food and Drug Administration	Prevention of Salmonella Enteritidis in Shell Eggs During Production Proposed rule regarding measures that shell egg producers must implement to prevent Salmonella Enteritidis contamination of eggs on the farm. Includes background information and discussion of the proposed rule, the preliminary regulatory impact analysis, the initial regulatory flexibility analysis, and more. The comment period for this proposed rule has been reopened in 70 FR 24490 "to receive comments and other information regarding industry practices and programs that prevent Salmonella Enteritidis (SE)-monitored chicks from becoming infected by SE during the period of pullet rearing until placement into laying hen houses." This comment period has been extended in 70 FR 33404. (more) Deadline: Monday, July 25, 2005 Publication Date: Wednesday, September 22, 2004	Sep 24, 2004
	Buzby, Jean C.; Frenzen, Paul D.; Rasco, Barbara	Product Liability and Microbial Foodborne Illness Report on product liability law and lawsuits related to personal injury caused by microbial foodborne illness. Publication Month: April 2001	Jun 16, 2003
	Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture	Publications: Food safety economics of foodborne disease Access to ERS reports on the economics of foodborne disease.	Aug 31, 2001
	Interagency Risk Assessment Consortium	Risk Assessment, Economic Analysis, and Foodborne Illness Regulations - Agenda/Presentations Agenda and presentations of the IRAC-sponsored Public Conference "Risk Assessment, Economic Analysis, and Foodborne Illness Regulations" held November 16, 2007 in Washington DC. Presentations include 'Integrating Risk Assessment and Economics'/Williams, Richard; 'Economic Valuation Methods: COI, VSL, WTP & QALY'/McGartland, Al; 'Common Misperceptions of Cost/Benefit Analysis for Public and Private Decision Making'/McLaughlin, Cristina; 'New Willingness to Pay Estimates of the Demand for Food Safety'/Hammitt, James; 'Using COI and WTP Methods to Estimate the Societal Costs of Foodborne Illness'/Roberts, Tanya; 'Wrap-up Remarks'/Dearfield, Kerry; etc. (more) Publication Date: Tuesday, November 27, 2007	Nov 30, 2007
	Wegener, Henrik C., et al.	Salmonella Control Programs in Denmark This article discusses Denmark's Salmonella control programs for broiler chickens, layer hens, and pigs. It also addresses control costs and public health economy issues. (more) Publication Month: July 2003	Jul 1, 2003
	Hogue, Allan, et al.	Situation Assessment: Salmonella Typhimurium DT104 This report identifies Salmonella Typhimurium DT104 as a foodborne pathogen and examines risk management factors. It includes data on the number of human isolations of DT104, the prevalence of S. Typhimurium DT104 in animals, risk factors for animal and human infection, clinical features in humans, control methods in humans, economic impact, priority rating, and comparison to other pathogens. (more) Publication Month: December 1997	Aug 8, 2002
	Finkelstein, Eric A.; Fiebelkorn, Ian C.; Wang, Guijing	State-Level Estimates of Annual Medical Expenditures Attributable to Obesity Report of a study to estimate state-specific Medicare, Medicaid, and total expenses attibutable to obesity. There are 5 appendix tables of data related to the study. Subscription or purchase may be required to access the full text. (more) Publication Year: 2004	Feb 4, 2004
	Weight-control Information Network, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health	Statistics Related to Overweight and Obesity Questions and answers regarding overweight and obesity, including prevalence statistics, economic costs, and other statistics. (more) Publication Month: July 2003	Oct 13, 2003
	Regional Office for Europe, World Health Organization	Study on Environmental Burden of Disease in Children: Key Findings This fact sheet summarizes results from the Environmental Burden of Disease study that examined the burden of environmental effects on children's health in Europe. Includes discussion of water, sanitation, and hygiene and lead. (more) Publication Date: Friday, June 18, 2004	Jun 22, 2004
	Flegal, Katherine M.	Supplemental Analyses for Estimates of Excess Deaths Associated with Underweight, Overweight, and Obesity in the U.S. Population Report that examines whether estimates of excess deaths caused by underweight, overweight, and obesity as described in JAMA 293(15): 1861-7 might be affected by systematic biases. (more) Deadline: Monday, August 15, 2005	Aug 15, 2005
	Skrzycki, Cindy	Under Fire, EPA Drops the 'Senior Death Discount' Article that discusses the EPA's "listening sessions" for seniors, and their effect on EPA's position on calculating the value of a life. To access the article, search the Archives of the Washington Post. A fee is required to view the full text. (more) Publication Date: Tuesday, May 13, 2003	Jul 1, 2003
	Roberts, Tanya	Using COI and WTP Methods to Estimate the Societal Costs of Foodborne Illness This presentation discusses using COI and WTP methods to estimate the societal costs of foodborne illness. It was presented at the 2007 IRAC-sponsored Public Conference 'Risk Assessment, Economic Analysis, and Foodborne Illness Regulations'. Paper for the presentation is available from this link. (more) Publication Date: Tuesday, November 27, 2007	Nov 30, 2007
	Zorn, David	Using QALYS to Evaluate Chronic Sequelae: Case of Arthritis This presentation discusses using QALYS to evaluate chronic sequelae: case of arthritis. It was presented at the 2007 IRAC-sponsored Public Conference 'Risk Assessment, Economic Analysis, and Foodborne Illness Regulations'. (more) Publication Date: Tuesday, November 27, 2007	Dec 7, 2007
	Kuchler, Fred	Valuing the Health Benefits of Food Safety: A Proceedings