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It may seem like a minor inconvenience when you’re home sick with some kind of foodborne illness, but the overall cost of these illnesses to our economy is huge–and staggering when you consider how many foodborne illnesses are preventable. A new study<\/a> from the Produce Safety Project, a Pew Charitable Trusts initiative, shows that foodborne illness costs $152 billion nationwide each year in medical care and quality of life.<\/p>\n “This report makes it clear that the gaps in our food-safety system are causing significant health and economic impacts,” says Erik Olson, director of food and consumer product safety with the Pew Health Group. “Especially in challenging economic times we cannot afford to waste billions of dollars fighting preventable diseases after it is too late…”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n You can learn more about the costs of foodborne illness in your state, and contact your Congresscritters about pending food-safety legislation, at MakeOurFoodSafe.org<\/a>. (Consumers Union, which owns Consumerist, is one of the groups behind this site.)<\/p>\n \nFoodborne Illness Costs U.S. $152 Billion Annually, Landmark Report Estimates<\/a> [Pew Charitable Trust]
\nMake Our Food Safe<\/a><\/p>\n