Foodborne illnesses from different pathogens (bacteria, viruses, and parasites) cause a variety of health effects, ranging from a few days of diarrhea to more serious outcomes such as kidney failure, cognitive impairment, and even death. Since the mid-1990s, the USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) has estimated the economic cost of 15 major foodborne illnesses. Monetary measures of these health effects provide a common metric to compare impacts of various pathogens, a way to aggregate impacts across illnesses, and a means of comparing the costs of experiencing those illnesses with the costs of preventing them.