Food Safety in the Balance as Contamination Reports Increase

Illness from contaminated food increased in 2024 compared with 2023 and hospitalizations and deaths related to food contamination doubled, according to a new report from the US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG).¹ These numbers indicate that increased vigilance may be needed not only from the FDA but also from consumers themselves in making sure that they are consuming food that will not cause serious illness.

“The number of recalls went up, the number of outbreaks identified went up, and it just reiterates to us that there’s still a lot to do in food safety,” Barbara Kowalcyk, PhD, director of the Institute for Food Safety and Nutrition Security at George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health, told The American Journal of Managed Care^®.

Approximately 1400 people in the US became ill from food in 2024, with 13 outbreaks accounting for 98% of the illnesses and 12 of them involving listeria, salmonella, or Escherichia coli. Even though the illnesses increased, the number of food recalls decreased about 5% from 2023, with 296 recall announcements in 2024. However, Kowalcyk pointed out that these numbers may not provide a full picture, as it’s hard to say if recalls decreased due to an actual improvement or because they were simply missed.

Food safety remains a primary concern in preventing health disasters in Americans | Image credit: Alexander Raths - stock.adobe.com

“There’s a lot we don’t know about foodborne disease because so many cases are considered sporadic, which means that they weren’t associated with an outbreak,” Kowalcyk said. “Now that doesn’t mean they aren’t associated with an outbreak, that means we just didn’t detect it.”

Improvements in identifying outbreaks have come through the use of the CDC’s PulseNet,² which can interpret a stool sample by using whole-genome sequencing to identify the bacteria that caused the foodborne illness. This, said Kowalcyk, is at least partly the reason that more reports of recalls and outbreaks have surfaced, even as the number of foodborne illnesses has remained fairly flat.

Although the FDA, CDC, and US Department of Agriculture (USDA) are the organizations to catch and identify foodborne illnesses, consumers can also be aware of which foods to be more careful with. PIRG reported that deli meat, onions, carrots, cucumbers, chocolate snacks with mushrooms, soft cheese, and ready-to-eat meat and poultry were associated with foodborne deaths in 2024. Staying aware of potential issues with those foods could help those who are most vulnerable. Kowalcyk specifically pointed to children 5 years and younger, people who are pregnant, postpartum women, senior citizens, and those who are immunocompromised as those who should take particular care.

Officials at the FDA, CDC, and USDA are responsible for making sure the food is safe, but their ranks may be decreasing amid personnel changes by the Trump administration. Although 300 employee firings were reversed,^3,4 the initial firing of multiple employees from the FDA sparked concern about the potential ramifications should the administration continue to target the FDA as a means of achieving its goal of reducing the federal budget. With the increase in contaminations from this past year, a los of employees may exacerbate the issue.

Kowalcyk pointed out that prevention is often hard to keep funded because, if done correctly, the problems disappear from public consciousness and the public does not believe it needs as much allocated to the budget. “I am concerned that any cuts to the federal, state, and local food safety programs will lead to less regulatory oversight, fewer outbreaks being investigated, and we’ll stop looking for things because we won't have the resources to look for them,” she said.

This is a particular problem when it comes to state and local governments, as it is often cheaper to send local and state officials to do inspections, especially in more rural areas, compared with federal agencies. The slim profit margins in the food production industry may also spark the need to cut corners or import more food as budgets get smaller, making it even more important to continue to fund agencies like the FDA, USDA, and CDC to check the quality of the food being imported and distributed.

Kowalcyk emphasized that, although many foodborne illnesses only involve diarrhea, vomiting, and nausea, there are potential serious outcomes of foodborne disease, such as renal disease and cardiac or neurologic disorders,⁵ that can stay with individuals for years to come. This makes preventing foodborne illnesses of paramount importance when thinking about managing the health of Americans in the long term. Continued funding for food safety programs can help to keep food safe and also help inform consumers when breakouts happen, ensuring reduced impact of food contamination in the future.

References

1. Murray T, Cope S. Food for thought 2025. United States Public Interest Research Group. February 13, 2025. Accessed February 26, 2025. https://pirg.org/edfund/resources/food-for-thought-2025/
2. About PulseNet. CDC. Accessed February 26, 2025. https://www.cdc.gov/pulsenet/hcp/about/index.html
3. Perrone M. FDA moves to rehire medical device, food safety and other staffers fired days earlier. AP News. Updated February 24, 2025. Accessed February 26, 2025. https://apnews.com/article/fda-layoffs-trump-doge-rehired-medical-devices-85d4743e4ce88dbe3b99c813bad4b702
4. Wingrove P, Levy R, Erman M. US FDA asks fired scientists to return, including some reviewing Musk’s Neuralink. Updated February 24, 2025. Accessed February 26, 2025. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-fda-asks-fired-scientists-return-including-some-reviewing-musks-neuralink-2025-02-22/
5. Lindsay JA. Chronic sequelae of foodborne disease. Emerg Infect Dis. 1997;3(4):443-452. doi:10.3201/eid0304.970405