Does an early warning system for foodborne illness in schools work? Evidence from South Korea

Abstract Understanding how information and/or information systems can help reduce the spread of foodborne illness, especially among vulnerable populations, is of first‐order policy relevance. In 2008, the South Korean government introduced an early warning system for foodborne illness outbreaks in all schools. This action was in response to a 2006 outbreak that sickened over 3600 students in 46 schools in the greater Seoul area. The EWS mandates schools track food items and suppliers such that schools can be alerted when an outbreak occurs. This study evaluates the effects of this warning system using administrative panel data in South Korea for 10 school years (2002–2011). We find the areas that had a higher pre‐policy prevalence of foodborne illness had the largest decrease in foodborne illness‐related costs after the implementation of the Early Warning System. In general, outbreaks of foodborne illness (of any type) fell by about 18.5% and the overall number of cases fell by 0.4%. When we compare changes in illnesses in schools versus other food sources (e.g., homes or restaurants) we find less evidence that the EWS reduced illness. Back‐of‐the‐envelope calculations indicate that the EWS reduced the annual cost of foodborne illness by at least $0.4 million per year, upwards of $2.9 million.