Estimates on the cost of foodborne illness in Australia have revealed poultry is associated with the highest burden. In 2023, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) commissioned the University of Melbourne and the Australian National University to estimate the annual cost of foodborne illness caused by food commodities and pathogens. The project was based on work by the Australian National University to estimate the cost of foodborne illness in the country.
 Foodborne disease costs Australia AUD 2.81 billion (U.S.
$1.85 billion) annually. However, attribution of costs to specific food groups remains a challenge.
This information is important when making regulatory decisions and prioritizing resources for research, monitoring, surveillance, and standards development. Expert elicitation has been used to create estimates to better support regulators’ decision-making. The project combines attribution estimates from microbiologists and other experts.
The University of Melbourne carried out an expert elicitation process to attribute illness due to eight pathogens to specific foods. Poultry and Campylobacter The pathogens were non-typhoidal Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria monocytogenes, Toxoplasma gondii, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), Yersinia, Vibrio, and Bacillus cereus.
The latter two agents were not included in the costing model. The food groups were beef, lamb, pork, poultry, eggs, dairy (milk and cream, fresh uncured cheese, brined cheese, soft-ripened an.
