Sandra Hoffmann

Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, Agricultural and Resource Economics, 1998

M.A. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Agricultural Economics, 1991 

J.D. University of Michigan Law School, May 1986

B.S. Iowa State University. Cum Laude, May 1980

Senior Economist. USDA, Economic Research Service, Washington, DC. 2010-2025

Fellow. Resources for the Future, Washington, DC. 2000-2010

Assistant Professor. University of Wisconsin-Madison, LaFollette School of Public Policy and Dept. of Urban and Regional Planning, Madison, WI. 1999-2000

Attorney. McKenna, Conner and Cuneo, Washington, DC. Pesticide Reg.. Law Group. 1986-89

Peace Corps Volunteer, Chile. 1980-1982.

Affiliated Faculty, GW Institute for Food Safety and Nutrition Security

Dr. Hoffmann is internationally recognized for her research on foodborne disease health outcome and cost modeling and on attribution of illness to food exposure. Her broader research agenda focuses on food safety, valuation of the health benefits of environmental policies, and integration of economic analysis and risk assessment. She takes a problem-focused approach to her research. She uses multidisciplinary methods, drawing on economics, epidemiology, and ecology, using systematic review, expert elicitation, and econometric and simulation modeling within a risk analysis framework.

Her 2005 book with Michael Taylor, Toward Safer Food, laid out a vision for the information framework needed to inform priority setting in risk-based food safety systems. From 2010 to 2025, she led USDA Economic Research Service cost of U.S. foodborne illness estimation research. Most recently, this work focused on providing a more complete picture of the impact of chronic health outcomes from foodborne illness. Results published in 2024 estimate the cost of U.S. foodborne illnesses at $75 billion annually (circa 2023), with 31% of this due to chronic outcomes.

Dr. Hoffmann has advised other national food safety authorities and the WHO on foodborne disease outcome modeling, foodborne disease source attribution, and cost of illness estimation. Her expert elicitation research attributing enteric disease to food sources played a pivotal role in WHO’s development of the first global estimates of foodborne disease in 2015. In 2020, WHO invited her to serve on the WHO Reference Group developing the second round of global estimates. The WHO estimates find global foodborne disease burden to be comparable to that of malaria or HIV.

More broadly, Dr. Hoffmann works on strengthening health valuation empirically and methodologically. Her work at Resources for the Future on public willingness-to-pay to reduce risk of death associated with air pollution in urban China and Mongolia helped promote World Bank funding of critical air quality initiatives. Since 2020, she has worked with the OECD SWACHE initiative to develop estimates of willingness to pay to reduce risk of morbidity that can result from environmental pollution or foodborne exposures. She is currently working on a set of US surveys testing alternative methods of reducing the research burden of estimating willingness to pay to reduce risk of health impacts of common infectious diseases.

Dr. Hoffmann's current research includes:

Estimation of direct global economic impact of foodborne disease. With colleagues, I am developing the first set of global cost of foodborne illness estimates for the WHO.

US cost of foodborne illness in children and the elderly.

Improving morbidity valuation methods. Survey research on willingness to pay to reduce risk of serious and chronic morbidity from infectious illnesses and non-hospitalized short-term infectious illnesses. The surveys use discrete choice experiments to value multiple ex-ante disease outcome prognosis scenarios, multiple acute disease symptoms, and EQ5D attributes with varying uncertainty and duration.

Collaboration with the OECD Surveys on Willingness-to-Pay to Avoid Negative Chemicals-Related Health Effects (SWACHE) initiative. This collaborative research is designed to strengthen the research foundation for evaluation of the economic benefits of environmental health policy in OECD countries.

Dr. Hoffmann’s current outreach work includes:

Support of GW Institute for Food Safety and Nutrition Security work on serving as a forum for discussion on current issues in US food safety and food safety policy.

Ongoing collaboration with the WHO and member states on use of global burden and cost of foodborne disease in low-and-middle-income countries to inform investments in food safety and foodborne disease surveillance.

Collaboration with the International Economics Liaison Group (government and academic economists from U.S., Australia, New Zealand, UK, Scotland, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Sweden and EFSA) focused on strengthening and improving capacity to develop cost of foodborne illness estimates used in food safety policy making.

See my Google Scholar page for the full list.

Pires, Sara M. et al. 2026. "World Health Organization attribution of burden of foodborne diseases to transmission pathways and foods." Food Research International: 120372.
 

Jakobsen, Lea S. et al. 2026. "WHO estimates of the global, regional, and national disease burden of nine foodborne chemicals, 2000–21: an updated data synthesis." The Lancet Global Health.
 

Majowicz, Shannon E., et al. 2026. "WHO estimates of the global, regional, and national burden of eight foodborne non-diarrhoeal enteric disease hazards, 2000–21: an updated data synthesis." The Lancet Global Health 14, no. 8.
 

Majowicz, Shannon E., et al. 2026. "WHO estimates of the global, regional, and national burden of 14 foodborne diarrhoeal enteric hazards, 2000–21: an updated data synthesis." The Lancet Global Health.
 

Lake, Robin J., et al. 2026. "WHO estimates of the global, regional, and national burden of 42 foodborne infectious and chemical hazards, 2000–21: an updated data synthesis." The Lancet Global Health.
 

2025. U.S. Cost estimates of foodborne illnesses. ERS Data Product.
 

Davydova A, et al. 2025. Source attribution studies of foodborne pathogens, 2010-2023: a review and collection of estimates. Food Microbiol. 2025 Oct;131:104812. doi: 10.1016/j.fm.2025.104812. Epub 2025 May 13. Erratum in: Food Microbiol. 2025 Dec;132:104848. doi: 10.1016/j.fm.2025.104848. PMID: 40484533.
 

Boyd, Kylie, et al. 2025. Ocular Toxoplasmosis infection leading to uveitis or chorioretinal lesions – A Systematic Review. Foodborne Pathogens and Disease.
 

K Keddy, et al. 2025. Quantifying national burdens of foodborne disease – four imperatives for global impact.  PLOS One Global Health 5(4): e0004309.
 

Hoffmann, Sandra A. and Elaine J. Scallan Walter. 2025. Improving cost estimates for risk-based food safety management and policy. Foodborne Pathogens and Disease 22(1): 1-3.
 

Hoffmann, Sandra, et al. 2025. Economic burden of foodborne illnesses acquired in the United States. Foodborne Pathogens and Disease 22(1): 4-14.
 

Armstrong, Alexandra, et al. 2024. Exposing Vibriosis: a scoping review of the literature regarding sequelae of non-cholera Vibrio infection. Arch Clin Infect Dis.19(3): e138679.
 

Chris Dockins, et al. 2024. Valuing a reduction in the risk of chronic kidney disease: A large scale multi-country stated preference approach.  J. of Benefit Cost Analysis. 1–21 doi:10.1017/bca.2024.16.
 

Armstrong, Alexandra, et al. 2024. "Exposing Vibriosis: A Scoping Review of the Literature Regarding Sequelae of Non-cholera Vibrio Infection." Archives of Clinical Infectious Diseases 119(3): 1-9.
 

K. Pogreba-Brown, et al.  2022. Complications associated with foodborne listeriosis - a scoping review. Foodborne Pathogens and Disease 19(11): 725-743.
 

M. Sheahan, et al. 2022. Examining the relationship between climate change and vibriosis in the United States: projected health and economic impacts for the 21st century. Environmental Health Perspectives 130(8): 087007.
 

H. Whitham, et al. 2022. Direct outpatient health care costs among commercially insured persons for common foodborne pathogens and acute gastroenteritis, 2012–2015. Foodborne Pathogens and Disease 19(8): 558-568.
 

B. Greening, Jr., et al. 2022. Public health response to multistate Salmonella typhimurium outbreak associated with prepackaged chicken salad, United States, 2018. Emerging Infectious Diseases 28(6): 1254.
 

Kenzie Schaefer, et al.  2022. Septicemia due to Listeria Monocytogenes infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Foodborne Pathogens and Disease 19 (2): 104-114.
 

Jae-Wan Ahn, et al. 2021. Identifying sepsis from foodborne hospitalization: incidence and hospitalization cost by pathogen. Clinical Infectious Disease, 75(5), 857-866.
 

S, Dahliwal, et al. 2021. Cost of hospitalizations for leading foodborne pathogens in the United States: identification by ICD coding and variation by pathogen. Foodborne Pathogens and Disease, 18(11): 812-821.
 

E. Austhof, et al. 2021. Scoping review of Toxoplasma post-infectious sequelae. Foodborne Pathogens and Disease 18 (10): 687-701.
 

Hoffmann, S. and J. Ahn.  2021. 2018 Updates to ERS economic burden of foodborne illness estimates.  Economic Research Report No. 297. USDA Economic Research Service, Washington, DC.
 

Hoffmann, S., Lydia Ashton, and Jae-Wan Ahn.  2021. Food safety: a policy history and introduction to avenues for economic research. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy 43:680-700.
 

Hoffmann, S., et al. 2021. Attributing U.S. campylobacteriosis cases to food sources, season, and temperature.  Economic Research Report No. 284. USDA, Economic Research Service, Washington, DC.
 

Hoffmann, Sandra, and Elaine Scallan-Walter. 2020. Acute complications and sequelae from foodborne infections: informing priorities for cost of foodborne illness estimates. Foodborne Pathogens and Disease, 17(3), 172-177.
 

Li, M., et al. 2019. Global disease burden of pathogens in animal source foods, 2010. PLoS One, 14(6), p.e0216545.
 

Hoffmann, S., et al. 2017. Attribution of major foodborne diseases to specific food exposures for use in assessing the global burden of foodborne diseases: results from coordinated expert elicitations in 14 WHO Subregions. PLoS One. 12(9), p.e0183641.
 

Hoffmann, S., Alan K. and Q. Ping. 2017. Building a set of internationally comparable VSL studies: estimates of Chinese willingness to pay to reduce mortality risk. J. of Benefit Cost Analysis 8(2): 251-289.


Aspinall, W., et al. 2016. Evaluation of a performance-based expert elicitation: WHO global attribution of foodborne diseases. PLoS One.
 

World Health Organization, Foodborne Epidemiology Reference Group, Source Attribution Task Force. 2016. Research synthesis methods in an age of globalized risks: lessons from the global burden of foodborne disease expert elicitation. Risk Analysis 36(2): 191-202.
 

Hald T., et al. 2016. World Health Organization estimates of the relative contributions of food to the burden of disease due to selected foodborne hazards: a structured expert elicitation. PLoS One. 
 

World Health Organization. 2015. WHO estimates of the global burden of foodborne diseases: Foodborne Disease Burden Epidemiology Reference Group 2007- 2015.
 

Hoffmann, S., B. McCulloch, and M. Batz. 2015. Economic burden of major foodborne illnesses acquired in the United States. Economic Information Bulletin No. 140, USDA, Economic Research Service, Washington, DC.
 

2014. Cost estimates of foodborne illnesses. USDA, ERS Data Product. 
 

Batz, M., S. Hoffmann, and J.G. Morris Jr. 2014. Disease-Outcome Trees, EQ-5D Scores, and Estimated Annual Losses of Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) due to 14 foodborne pathogens in the United States. Foodborne Pathogen and Disease, 11(5): 395-402.
 

Hoffmann, S. and T. Anekwe. 2013. Making Sense of Recent Cost-of-Foodborne-Illness Estimates. Economic Information Bulletin No. 118. USDA, Economic Research Service, Washington, DC.
 

Hoffmann, S., Q. Ping, A. Krupnick, S. Lodoysamba, B. Burmaa, A. Enkhjargal, B. Suvd. 2012. The willingness to pay for mortality risk reductions in Mongolia. Resource and Energy Econ. 34(4): 493-513.

Hoffmann, S., M. Batz, and J.G. Morris Jr. 2012. Annual cost of illness and Quality-Adjusted Life Year losses in the United States Due to 14 Foodborne Pathogens. J. Food Protection 75(7): 1291-1302.
 

Batz, M., S. Hoffmann, and J.G. Morris Jr. 2012. Ranking the disease burden of 14 pathogens in food sources in the United States using attribution data from outbreak investigations and expert elicitation. J. Food Protection 75(7): 1270-77.
 

National Academies of Sciences, Institute of Medicine. 2012. Exploring Health and Environmental Costs of Food - Workshop Summary. Contributor. National Academies Press, Washington, DC.
 

Hoffmann, S. 2011. Overcoming barriers to integrating economic analysis into risk assessment, Risk Analysis. 31(9): 1345-1355.
 

World Bank. 2011. Air quality analysis of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia: improving air quality to reduce health impacts: main report.
 

Hoffmann, S. and B. Harder. 2010. Food safety and risk governance in globalized markets. Health Matrix: J. of Law-Medicine. 20: 5-54.

Hoffmann, S. 2010. Ensuring food safety around the globe: the many roles of risk analysis from risk ranking to microbial risk assessment. Risk Analysis. 30 (5): 711-714.

National Research Council, Committee on Effectiveness of National Biosurveillance Systems: BioWatch and the Public Health System. 2009. BioWatch and Public Health Surveillance: Evaluating Systems for Early Detection of Biological Threats. National Academic Press, Washington, DC.
 

Hoffmann, S., P. Fischbeck, A. Krupnick, and M. McWilliams. 2008. Informing risk-mitigation priorities using uncertainty measures derived from heterogeneous expert panels: a demonstration using foodborne pathogens, Reliability Engineering and System Safety. 93(5): 687-698.
 

World Bank. 2007. Cost of pollution in China: economic estimates of physical damages.
 

Hoffmann, S. 2007. Since children are not little adults – socially - what’s an environmental economist to do? Duke Environmental Law and Policy Forum. 17: 209-232.
 

Hoffmann, S., Paul Fischbeck, A. Krupnick, and M. McWilliams. 2007. Elicitation from large, heterogeneous expert panels: using multiple uncertainty measures to characterize information quality for decision analysis, Decision Analysis. 4(2): 91-109.


Hoffmann, S., P. Fischbeck, A. Krupnick, and M. McWilliams. 2007. Using expert elicitation to link foodborne illnesses in the U.S. to food, Journal of Food Protection. 70(5): 1220-1229.
 

World Bank. 2006. Republic of Colombia: mitigating environmental degradation to foster growth and reduce inequality.
 

Hoffmann, S. and M. Taylor (eds.). 2005. Toward Safer Food: Perspectives on Risk and Priority Setting. Resources for the Future Press, Washington, DC.
 

Dharmapala, D., and S. Hoffmann. 2005. Bilateral accidents with intrinsically interdependent costs of precaution, Journal of Legal Studies. 34(1): 239-272.
 

Berck, P., C. Costello, L. Fortmann and S. Hoffmann. 2003. Poverty and employment in forest-dependent counties, Forest Science. 49(5): 1-15.
 

Berck, P. and S. Hoffmann. 2002. Assessing the employment impacts of environmental policy, Environmental and Resource Economics. 22: 133–56.
 

Taylor, M. and S. Hoffmann. 2001. Redesigning food safety, Issues in Science and Technology. 17(4): 26-30.