Webinar series: WHO estimates of the global burden of foodborne diseases 2000–2021, key findings from the 2026 edition

9 – 25 June 2026
Virtual meeting
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Background

Throughout the month of June 2026, WHO Department of Nutrition and Food Safety hosted a series of webinars presenting new global evidence on the burden of foodborne diseases and the methodologies underpinning these estimates. The main webinar on 4 June 2026 hosted on the occasion of World Food Safety Day, introduced the latest findings from WHO’s updated estimates, highlighting key trends, major drivers, and implications for public health policy and food systems worldwide.

Building on this overview, six technical deep-dive webinars were held throughout the month. These sessions examined critical components of the estimation framework, including source attribution methods and their results, with a focus on how foodborne pathway and specific foods contribute to disease burden. Dedicated webinars addressed the burden of disease associated with dietary exposure to chemicals in food, foodborne enteric and parasitic infections, presenting both methodological approaches and key findings across regions. Additional sessions covered the computational methods used to generate the estimates, promoting transparency and reproducibility, as well as the economic burden of foodborne diseases, highlighting their societal and health system impacts. The final webinar focused on translating these estimates into action, demonstrating how countries can apply the findings to strengthen food safety systems.

Overview and agenda for six webinars

Webinar recordings: https://www.whofoodsystems.org/page/world-food-safety-day-2026

Presentations