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IThrewThisOneAwayToo t1_jb0kvup wrote

Hello! Food Safety specialist and sanitarian here. I can assure you there were plenty more food borne illness related deaths but they’re often mistaken for other illnesses or go unreported. The death toll estimated by the FDA and CDC is closer to around 3,000 deaths per year from food borne illnesses.

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databeautifier OP t1_jb0zuua wrote

Hi! Thanks for sharing! In case you're wondering, the source lists the 2017–18 South African listeriosis outbreak as the deadliest of all time with 218 deaths, which I rounded down to 200.

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IThrewThisOneAwayToo t1_jb115sf wrote

Your visualization of the data is supported by the facts listed in your source for sure! Great job on it.

The point I’m trying to make is that most foodborne illnesses go unreported and the death toll is much higher than reported.

Let’s take that listeriosis source for example. Listeria has symptoms that very closely reflect a bad flu. And the onset time can be up to two weeks after ingestion. So I’d be willing to bet a lot of people just thought they had a bad flu when they became sick.

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