Georgia ranks high for foodborne illness

By Craig Schneider

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia ranks ninth in the country for the total costs of food-borne illness, with an annual tab of $4.7 billion a year, according to study released today.

The state ranked in the same position for the number of food-borne illnesses per year -- at 2.5 million annually.

The report by the Pew Charitable Trusts at Georgetown University pegged the cost per case at $1,876 in Georgia.

The report compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia regarding the health-related costs of food-borne illnesses such as salmonella, listeria and E. coli, concluding that these illnesses cost the nation more than $150 billion a year.

The report's author, Robert Scharff, a former economist with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said that Georgia's overall ranking is largely in line with the state's population ranking. During the period that was analyzed, 2002 to 2006, Georgia was around the 10th largest state.

Scharff, now an assistant professor of consumer science at Ohio State University, said he reviewed figures on food-borne illnesses, hospitalizations, doctor visits and prescription medicine costs from the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to draw his statistical conclusions, which he said were estimates. He also examined work productivity losses.

California had the highest total costs at $18.6 billion and Wyoming was the lowest with $245 million a year.

Georgia had a history of slightly more severe cases of food-borne illness and a slightly higher level of salmonella cases than the national average, he said. His analysis did not attempt explain the reasons behind this.

Food-borne illness has come under more scrutiny after a national salmonella outbreak a year ago that was traced in large part to a South Georgia peanut processing plant. Scharff said he was aware of the problems with oversight of food processing in Georgia, but said he did not have data on whether those problems were any worse than elsewhere in the nation.

He said the report showed the need for more attention to food-borne illnesses across the nation, and he urged government officials to investigate ways to make food companies more accountable for the illnesses they cause.