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In this report we identify the following five main types of costs due to foodborne illness:

• public foodborne illness surveillance and control activities
• industry disruption associated with food poisoning outbreaks
• health care services
• lost productivity borne by businesses
• lost productivity, lifestyle and mortality costs borne by individuals.

In Chapter 6, we attempt to distinguish between the loss of productivity borne by businesses and the costs borne by households, and also between productivity and lifestyle losses. These efforts are useful as a means of validating the estimated overall costs. However, the distinctions are not based on robust data. Accordingly, summary costs of estimated productivity and lifestyle losses are reported below. These totals are more reliable estimates than breakdowns of the components.

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