This is a list of foodborne illness outbreaks by death toll, caused by infectious disease, heavy metals, chemical contamination, or from natural toxins, such as those found in poisonous mushrooms.Before modern microbiology, foodbourne illness was not understood, and, from the mid 1800s to early-mid 1900s, was perceived as Ptomaine Poisoning, caused by a fundamental flaw in understanding how it worked. While the medical establishment ditched Ptomaine theory by the 30s, it remained the public conscience until the late 60s and early 70s.
Outside of Botulism (which has been well known since the early 1900s and killed often at the time), many other foodbourne illnesses such as Salmonella were not monitored closely or kept careful track of until at least the late 70s, with overall monitoring only fully taking off after the 1992–1993 Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak.
| Year | Event | Agent | Food | Company | Infected | Deaths | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017–2018. | 2017–18 South African listeriosis outbreak | Listeria | Processed meat | Enterprise Foods | [1] | A widespread Listeria monocytogenes outbreak from contaminated Deli meats from Enterprise Foods a subsidiary of Tiger Brands. It is the world's worst listeria outbreak. | ||
| 2011 | 2011 Germany E. coli O104:H4 outbreak | E. coli O104:H4 | fenugreek sprouts[2] | [3] | [4] | Deadliest bacterial foodborne outbreak in Europe. Deadliest E. coli outbreak. | ||
| 1985 | 1985 California listeriosis outbreak in cheese | Jalisco Cheese | [5] | Deadliest bacterial foodborne outbreak in US.[6] [7] | ||||
| 2011 | Listeria | Jensen Farms | [8] | Second deadliest bacterial foodborne outbreak in US. Second deadliest Listeria outbreak. | ||||
| 2008 | Maple Leaf Foods[9] | [10] | Deadliest foodborne outbreak in Canada. | |||||
| 1996 | 1996 Wishaw (Scotland) E. coli outbreak | E. coli O157 | meat | John Barr | At the time the world's deadliest outbreak of E. coli poisoning. Butchers John M. Barr & Son provided cooked meat products to several events including a birthday party and a pensioners' luncheon club. The source of the contamination was traced to a boiler used for cooking joints and stew, and a vacuum packing machine used for cooked and raw meats.[11] Deadliest Outbreak of the 0157 strain[12] | |||
| 1998 | Listeria | cold cuts and hot dogs | Bil Mar Foods | [13] | ||||
| 2008-2009 | 2008–2009 Chile listeriosis outbreak | Listeria | Cecina, sausages, cheese and other dairy products | Doñihue Limitada | 164 | 16[14] | ||
| 2014 | 2013–2014 Danish listeriosis outbreak | Spiced lamb roll, pork, sausages, bacon, liver pâté etc.[15] | Jørn A. Rullepølser | [16] | Deadliest foodborne outbreak in Denmark. | |||
| 2024 | cantaloupe | Malchita | 597 | 15 | Deadliest Salmonella outbreak in world history | |||
| 1985 | Salmonella | Hillfarm Dairy | [17] | Largest foodborne salmonella outbreak in milk. | ||||
| 2008 | 2008 United States salmonellosis outbreak in peanuts | peanuts | Peanut Corporation of America | Largest foodborne salmonella outbreak in peanut butter. One of the largest food recalls in United States history.[18] | ||||
| 2002 | 2002 United States listeriosis outbreak in poultry | Listeria | Pilgrim's Pride | |||||
| 2015–present[19] | European listeriosis outbreak (2015–present) | Listeria monocytogenes | Frozen corn suspected | Hungarian supplier → Hungarian processing company → Polish storage service → Polish packer | the ongoing outbreak has affected five European Union countries:
| |||
| 1994 | Salmonella in ice cream | Salmonella | ice cream | Schwan's Sales Enterprises | An estimated that 224,000 people across the United States suffered from Salmonella enteritidis gastroenteritis after eating Schwan's ice cream when raw, unpasteurized eggs were hauled in a tanker truck that later carried pasteurized ice cream to the Schwan's plant, and the ice cream premix wasn't pasteurized after delivery to the plant.[20] | |||
| 1992 - 1993 | First deadly foodborne E. coli O157:H7 outbreak. | |||||||
| 2003 | [21] | Largest foodborne hepatitis outbreak. | ||||||
| 2006 | Dole Foods[22] | [23] | ||||||
| 2024 | 2024 Canadian listeriosis outbreak | Listeria | Nut milk | Silk and Great Value | 20[24] | 3 | Listeria contamination in various nut milk products led to at least 20 cases of listeriosis, including 3 deaths in Ontario between August 2023 and July 2024. | |
| 1963 | 1963 botulism case from canned tuna | Botulism | [25] | |||||
| 1922 | 1922 Loch Maree botulism outbreak[26] | Duck paste | Lazenby's | Six guests and two staff members at the Loch Maree Hotel in Scotland were fatally poisoned by sandwiches made with Botulinus-contaminated duck paste. This was the first incident in the UK in which botulism was conclusively identified as the cause and remains the only large incident of microbial food contamination in the UK with 100% reported fatalities. | ||||
| 1971 | Botulism | vichyssoise soup | Bon Vivant Company | [27] | ||||
| 1996 | [28] | [29] | Unpasteurized juice sold for the health market. Rotten apples used when safety officer was overruled. | |||||
| 2005 | meat | local butcher | [30] | Largest E. coli outbreak in Wales. Second largest E. coli outbreak in UK. | ||||
| 2017 | 2017 Valley Oak Nacho Cheese Botulism outbreak | nacho cheese | gas station | 10 | 1 | A poorly maintained nacho cheese machine lead to the contamination of the cheese and the sicking of 10 people with botulism, one of whom later died.[31] | ||
| 1995-present | vCJD/HSBE in British Beef | New Variant Cruetzfelt Jakob Disease AKA Human Bovine Spongiform Encephalopthy | beef | nationwide beef producers | 178 | 178 |
| Year | Event | Food | Contaminant | Location | Affected | Deaths | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | wheat, barley | Seeds treated with methylmercury as a fungicide for planting were used as food | ||||||
| 1981 | possibly aniline | Spain | Industrial oil sold as food oil.[32] | |||||
| 1955 | [33] [34] | By mistake, an industrial grade Monosodium phosphate was added to milk produced by Morinaga Milk Industry, which contained an impurity of 5–8% arsenic. The milk powder was used for feeding infants, and many babies were poisoned. By 1981, there were still >6,000 people affected as adults with severe mental retardation and other health effects; and by 2006, >600 adults remained affected. | ||||||
| 1900 | England | Arsenic was introduced into beer via contaminated sugar. Outbreak made worse by mass-misdiagnosis of the victims' illnesses. | ||||||
| 1947 | 1947 Oregon State Hospital poisoning | United States | Instead of powdered milk, sodium fluoride, a poison to kill cockroaches, had been accidentally used in the cooking process | |||||
| 1858 | England | Arsenic was accidentally sold as "daft". Daft was a standard adulterant to bulk up the candy | ||||||
| 2005 | Mabini food poisoning incident[35] | fritters | Philippines | Pesticide ingredient was believed to have been inadvertently mixed with cassava flour used in making the snacks which were then sold to schoolchildren | ||||
| 2008 | China | Milk diluted with water then melamine added to fool the test for protein content |