Foodborne illness is defined by the World Health Organization as ‘diseases, usually
either infectious or toxic in nature, caused by agents that enter the body through the
ingestion of food.’
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Foodborne diseases are a serious and global problem. The
WHO estimates that worldwide foodborne and waterborne diarrhoeal diseases taken
together kill about 2.2 million people annually.
There may be a tendency to assume that much of this enormous burden of disease
happens elsewhere in the world but we know that foodborne disease is also a major
cause of illness in the UK population and imposes a significant burden on both
infected individuals and the economy