Abstract: Objective To analyze the causes of foodborne illness outbreaks in Inner Mongolia, so as to provide reference for understanding systemic risks and formulating prevention and control measures. Methods Data on foodborne disease outbreaks in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region from 2016 to 2021 were collected through the "Foodborne Disease Outbreak Monitoring System" for attribution analysis. Results A total of 591 outbreak events were included from 2016 to 2021. Single -dimensional attribution analysis showed that the main causes of foodborne disease outbreaks in this region were vegetables and vegetable products, and meat and meat products, respectively accounting for 20.5% (121/591) and 12.6% (75/591) of the total events. leading contributing factor was improper processing, accounting for 16.2%(96/591), and the main pathogenic factor was toxic plants and their toxins, accounting for 14.9%(88/591). Multi-dimensional attribution analysis showed that the highest number of outbreak events occurred in summer, with 290 cases accounting for 49.1% (290/591) of the total number of events. The eastern, central, and western regions also had the highest number of events in summer, accounting for 53.6% (180/336), 39.5% (60/152), and 48.5% (50/103) of the total number of events in this region, respectively. Among vegetables and vegetable products, improper processing led to the majority of outbreaks caused by toxic plants and their toxins, accounting for 58.7% (71/121) of total events. For meat and meat products, improper storage resulting in the most outbreaks of biological pollution, accounting for 16.0%(12/75) of the total number of meat and meat product incidents. Majorities of death cases were primarily due to accidental ingestion or misuse of non-food items (such as poisonous mushrooms), comprising 38.5% (5/13) of total deaths. Conclusions The main food, triggering factors, and pathogenic factors involved in the outbreak of foodborne diseases in this region are relatively routine and controllable. Therefore, efforts should be made to strengthen public food safety education to reduce the occurrence of foodborne diseases.