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Food recalls rising in 2024 has been a trending topic. Especially in the past few months. The Boar’s Head deli meat Listeria outbreak that shook the nation and sickened so many people. The recent E. coli contaminated onions on McDonald’s famous Quarter Pounders. Cucumbers with Salmonella. Organic carrots with E. coli. Lettuce, walnuts, ground beef, eggs, and more!
Recalls declined dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic but regained higher statistics since then. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported 1,908 food and cosmetics products for the 2024 fiscal year (ending in September).
The highest since 2019! That year surpassed the current year by 138.
The outlook for 2025 does not seem much better.
With so much contaminated food making it to the marketplace and subsequently being pulled. Potentially after consumers have brought it home and fed their families, it begs the question.
Are recalls a sign our system is working? Or are we just seeing preventable messes being cleaned up AFTER the problem has occurred.
With America’s trust in the safety of the U.S. food supply at a record low, it seems like the latter is more evident.
A Gallup poll whose results were published over the summer indicated that Americans’ confidence in the government to ensure a safe U.S. food supply is dim.
“While 57% express at least a fair amount of confidence in the government to keep food safe,” said the report, “28% of Americans do not have much confidence and 14% have ‘none at all.’”
Yes.
And also yes.
We are seeing a bit of both.
Several factors contribute to this phenomenon.
One of the reasons food recalls rising has shown an upward trend is the stricter criteria for declaring a food-related outbreak. One expert said that between U.S. food surveillance and outbreak discovery being more sensitive than even just 10 years ago, we are seeing more reports.
A food-related outbreak becomes a public record with as little as six cases, they said. However, in the case of a May 2024 outbreak, two confirmed cases linked to bagged lettuce made it to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Investigations of Foodborne Illness Outbreak table.
As technology has improved, so has the ability to link contaminated food to sick consumers.
In the not-so-distant past, investigators were forced to rely on patient interviews to find a common denominator for foodborne illness. The human mind is not always the best witness. Especially when we have been vomiting for several days or hospitalized with severe illness.
When whole genome sequencing and data-sharing technologies entered the picture, it was a game changer.
Those interviews are still an important part of the investigation. However, a sample from the patient can now be tested and connected to genetically similar illnesses. Even across the country.
From there, common foods can be analyzed for the presence of the germ. That same genetic analysis can even prove that the particular food was the source of the outbreak. Prompting a recall to remove the adulterated product from store shelves.
Recent changes in food regulation have also contributed to rising statistics. For example, prior to the Food Safety Modernization Act enacted in 2011, the FDA didn’t have as much power.
Now the organization can better scrutinize imported foods, ensuring they meet U.S. standards. They can also issue mandatory recalls instead of relying on voluntary cooperation. Additional requirements have been added to safety protocols for food produced and sold in the United States.
All of the above has contributed to food recalls rising and strengthening our food supply.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention keeps an eye on 31 pathogens (bacteria, viruses, and parasites) that are commonly linked to foodborne hospitalizations and deaths in the country.
E. coli, Listeria, and Salmonella represent the biggest threats, causing the most reported hospitalizations and deaths each year.
Other bad bugs include Campylobacter, Cyclospora, norovirus, Shigella, Vibrio, and Yersinia.
Escherichia coli, more commonly known as E. coli, is a bacterium that lives in the intestinal tract of humans and animals.
While some are friendly and make up our beneficial microbiome to help us digest food, assist our immune system in fighting off harmful germs, and even produce vitamins we need to grow and thrive.
Others are not so friendly. Particularly the ones that produce toxins.
These are the ones that make the news.
There are six types of E. coli bacteria that cause human illness. Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), being the worst. The CDC stays STEC “can trigger a serious health condition called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).” Children younger than five and adults over 65 are most vulnerable. “HUS can lead to kidney failure, permanent health problems, and even death.”
Listeria monocytogenes is commonly found in soil. Which is why it is linked to a lot of produce recalls.
However, we find Listeria in other recalls. Deli meat, for example.
This is because this tiny germ has a tiny trump card under its tiny sleeve.
It doesn’t mind refrigeration.
While most pathogens slow down under refrigerated conditions (below the danger zone of 40° F), Listeria can continue to happily thrive. Just one or two Listeria cells hitching a ride in a package of lunch meat can grow to illness inducing levels by the end of its months-long shelf life.
Additionally, its penchant for invasive illness (leaving the digestive tract and entering other parts of the body) also ranks it high on the list. In addition to fever and flu-like symptoms, Listeria has serious impacts for a pregnant person. Increased risk of miscarriage, still birth, premature birth, and life-threatening infection of the newborn, for example.
Salmonella bacteria rank as the largest cause of hospitalization and death in our food system.
Each year the CDC estimates around 1.35 million illnesses, 26,500 hospitalizations, and 420 deaths are attributed to Salmonella illness.
While some strains and infections wreak havoc on the digestive system, causing diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps, even more severe illness can occur.
Some illnesses impact the nervous system, causing a type of paralysis known as Guillain Barré Syndrome.
Fortunately, there are a few things that consumers can do to protect themselves and their families.
Washing produce, cooking food to appropriate internal temperatures, and keeping raw food separate from ready-to-eat food is a good starting point. And for crying out loud, WASH YOUR HANDS!
Wash produce under running water, scrubbing when appropriate.
This means ALL produce.
I’m looking at you, avocado!
Even produce where you don’t intend to eat the skin or rind. Cutting the outside of the fruit or vegetable drags the knife from the outside through the fleshy interior. So don’t skip that step. Even for giant watermelons.
It isn’t worth the risk!
Heat treating foods can kill or inactivate harmful germs. This heat treatment does little for toxins, so safe handling is also an important aspect of food safety.
Follow the USDA’s Safe Minimum Internal Temperature chart to ensure you are fully cooking your meat, seafood, and leftovers.
Always use a kitchen thermometer and insert the probe into the thickest part.
Raw foods, like meat or other potentially risky foods should be kept separate from ready-to-eat foods. Fully cooked foods and prewashed items like salads or bread can become easily contaminated if juices or even trace amounts of the pathogens transfer to them.
This starts in the shopping cart too!
Put these raw foods in a different part of the cart. Be sure they are bagged at checkout separately. When you get home, place them in the fridge in a leakproof container to make sure you keep things separate.
I cannot emphasize this enough.
Wash your darn hands!
Wash them before and after you prepare food. Before you eat. After you go to the restroom or help someone in the restroom. Or anytime you have potentially contaminated them.
Our environment is full of germs. Keep them out of your food and out of your mouth by removing them regularly.
Wash your hands!
If you’d like to know more about food safety topics in the news, like “Thoughts on Food Recalls Rising and What You Need to Know,” check out the Make Food Safe Blog. We regularly update trending topics, foodborne infections in the news, recalls, and more! Stay tuned for quality information to help keep your family safe, while The Lange Law Firm, PLLC strives to Make Food Safe!
By: Heather Van Tassell (contributing writer, non-lawyer
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