How Safe Is Our Food?

Even adults hospitalized with severe symptoms — vomiting, diarrhea and bloody stool — aren't usually initially tested for foodborne pathogens, says Braymen, who is now an independent food safety auditor and a constituent advocate for Stop Foodborne Illness.

Despite ongoing public health efforts, infections from five out of eight pathogens commonly transmitted through food have increased (Campylobacter, Cyclospora, STEC, Vibrio, Yersinia), while the others (Listeria, Salmonella, Shigella) have remained steady, according to a July report from the CDC using preliminary 2023 data.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. This uptick may be from better detection methods, such as culture-independent diagnostic tests, which are more sensitive in identifying infections.

“A large portion of what appears to be an increase in outbreaks is us more effectively finding” them, a CDC spokesperson told AARP.

In 2021, the foods most frequently linked to cases of foodborne illness were chicken, mollusks (such as oysters), leafy greens and root vegetables. Chicken, fish, mollusks and vegetable row crops were the most common causes of outbreaks overall, according to CDC data.

“We should have trust in our food,” Detwiler says. “But we should have trust that we know what to do to ensure that our food is safe, not blind trust that someone else took care of the responsibility.”

When a foodborne illness outbreak occurs, public health officials can identify or suspect the exact food source in roughly 40 percent of cases. For multistate outbreaks, that number rises to about 60 percent, according to the CDC. These outbreaks often spike during the summer, likely due to higher temperatures and seasonal eating habits, which increase the risk of contamination.

Food recalls and regulation: What’s really going on?

While the CDC tracks foodborne illness, the FDA oversees the safety of about 78 percent of the U.S. food supply, excluding meat, poultry and certain egg products, which fall under the USDA. Though most recalls are voluntary, both agencies can mandate them when necessary.

“I do think there has been an increase in the ‘reasons and the whys’ of what things are being recalled,” Detwiler says. “There’s a lot less food from the USDA being recalled than there is food from the FDA. And a lot of times, the reasons why these foods are being recalled is a lot different than why they were recalled 20 years ago.”

For example, processed and ready-to-eat foods come with new safety challenges, such as cross-contamination and the presence of additives. “Food fraud,” where companies deliberately substitute or omit key ingredients, is also a growing concern.

“Overall, the complexity of global supply chains demands more sophisticated and agile recall management strategies to address the increasing challenges of food safety,” says Chris Harvey, senior vice president of client services at Sedgwick, a company that helps businesses manage their insurance claims and risks. “The global nature of modern supply chains means that a contamination event can quickly affect products across multiple regions, escalating the scale and impact of recalls.”

Which foods are being recalled? And why?

Prepared foods and produce are the most frequently recalled items. Over the last five years, most recalls on prepared foods were due to undeclared allergens and foreign materials, while produce recalls were largely driven by bacterial contamination, according to Sedgwick analysis.

“Tracing the origin of contamination has become more challenging, leading to an increase in the frequency of food recalls,” Harvey says. “We have seen both U.S. and European food recall events reach a five-year high in 2023, with strong signals (year-to-date) that 2024 will be a record-breaking year.”

In the first three months of 2024, the number of FDA food recalls went up 27.6 percent from the previous quarter, reaching 134 recalls, the second-highest level in four years. The number of affected packages of food also surged dramatically, jumping from 6.2 million to 30.7 million — a rise of 395.1 percent — according to Sedgwick’s Recall Index 2024 Edition 1.

However, the FDA says it’s not accurate to say recalls are increasing overall.

“The number of food recalls in FY 2024 is consistent with years past. So far in FY 2024, 997 food and/or cosmetic recall events have been classified by the FDA. By comparison, 1,551 total food and/or cosmetic recalls were classified in FY 2023,” an FDA spokesperson says.

It’s worth noting that the FDA classifies cosmetics and food within the same category because both are regulated by the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. This contrasts with Sedgwick, which focuses solely on food and drinks as its own sector.

On a brighter note, Class I recalls — the most serious, potentially causing severe illness or death — have trended downward after peaking in 2017, according to combined data from the FDA and USDA.

What’s next for food safety?

Looking ahead, advancements in technology are reshaping food safety, with real-time shipment monitoring and better contamination detection methods allowing for quicker identification and resolution of safety issues, Harvey says. 

But many companies hesitate to adopt these tools for fear of backlash if issues arise. “If you talk about technologies, it doesn’t mean anything if no one has the courage to use it correctly and consistently,” Detwiler says.

The industry is under increasing pressure to meet demands for greater transparency and sustainability and stricter safety measures. Although the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act shifted regulations from a reactive approach to preventing foodborne illnesses, its implementation has been slow, especially in smaller plants.

Since the law’s passage, consumer behavior, retail practices and food processing have all changed, further underscoring the difficulty of aligning outdated policies with modern production, Detwiler says.

“We're never going to have a day where we don’t have to worry about food safety again,” he says. “So, as long as there’s bacteria, there’s always going to be pathogens, because pathogens are just the bacteria that are bad for you.”

For the latest food, consumer safety and auto recall alerts, visit aarp.org/recalls.