Multistate Foodborne Illness Outbreaks

Data Visualization December 4, 2015 Read time:

Projects: Safe Food

This data visualization is no longer being updated as of March 31, 2016. Please see our foodborne outbreak analyses for newer information, and visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's list of multistate foodborne outbreak investigations for details on reported cases.

This graphic has been updated as of 3/28/2016.

In January 2011, President Barack Obama signed the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) into law, signaling the first major update to our nation’s food safety oversight framework since the Great Depression.

This graphic represents all of the multistate foodborne illness outbreaks identified by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) since FSMA was enacted that were linked to FDA-regulated products. However, because foodborne illnesses are significantly underreported, there were probably many more illnesses; in fact, CDC estimates that each year, 1 in 6 Americans (48 million people) suffer from a foodborne illness, resulting in 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths

Note: This chart includes only reported multistate outbreaks for which CDC has identified a contaminated food source. The chart does not include outbreaks caused by meat and poultry products regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Check out our resources on illnesses linked to these foods.