Why does it seem like food recalls are out of control this year? | The Verge
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Why does it seem like food recalls are out of control this year?
An uptick in public health awareness is leaving consumers nervous and tired.
An uptick in public health awareness is leaving consumers nervous and tired.
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Just weeks after Taylor Farms issued a recall of its iceberg lettuce amid a massive cyclospora outbreak, the Food and Drug Administration recalled more than one million eggs that may be contaminated with salmonella. The eggs, which come from Midwest Poultry Services, were distributed to Kroger and smaller grocery stores across the South and Southwest US. Then, Taylor Farms pulled more than a dozen of its products containing jalapeños — including guacamole, salsa, taco dip, and more — from store shelves after its supplier, Coast Citrus Distributors, recalled fresh peppers due to salmonella contamination.
The list of major recalls that occurred over the past few months doesn’t end there, as frozen blueberries and mixed berries sold at Publix stores in multiple states were recalled over concerns about E. coli contamination earlier this month. Some of Outshine’s fruit bars were also removed for potential glass contamination, while even dog food and eye drops have been affected by recent recalls. Altogether, the recent recalls have sickened thousands of people (and some dogs) across the US.
Darin Detwiler, professor emeritus at Northeastern and adjunct professor at Michigan State University College of Law, tells The Verge that available data from the FDA suggests that “recall activity has indeed been elevated,” but notes that it’s “too early to know” whether this year’s recalls will outpace the ones issued in 2025.
“This is where recall fatigue can become trust fatigue.”
As of July 31st, we’ve had 122 food and beverage recalls so far this year, compared to 135 during the same period in 2025 and 146 in 2024, according to the Poynter Institute. “We just transitioned through the summer, which for various reasons tends to see more foodborne outbreaks than other months,” Edward Dudley, a professor of food science at Pennsylvania State University, tells The Verge. “There has been an increased effort to highlight these events by media outlets, which is great for public awareness, but doesn’t necessarily reflect a concerning uptick in risk.”
While the current number of recalls may not be significantly higher than previous years, a report from the US Public Interest Research Group notes that we have still seen “a huge increase” in outbreaks of foodborne illnesses. “What we can say is that recall activity in 2026 appears elevated, and some individual recalls are affecting extraordinarily large quantities of food,” Detwiler says. “That distinction matters. A handful of very large recalls can expose far more consumers than dozens of smaller events.” The lettuce-linked cyclospora outbreak contributed to more than 9,000 illnesses in the US, which may make it the third-largest recorded outbreak of foodborne illnesses, according to the PIRG.
Some of these large and small events have been getting a lot of attention. News outlets and television stations have picked up on the recalls published by the FDA and US Department of Agriculture. Online personalities often joined the chorus with their viral recall warning posts racking up thousands of likes and views, bolstered by social media algorithms.
“When recall notices become part of the background noise of everyday life, people may stop paying attention,” Detwiler adds. “Worse, they may begin accepting recalls and outbreaks as simply an unavoidable cost of operating a complex food system… This is where recall fatigue can become trust fatigue.”
The Trump administration’s federal funding cuts may also make it more challenging for agencies to oversee food safety. The FDA’s budget decreased by $271 million compared to last year. It also cut over 4,300 employees in 2025 and 2026, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention slashed over 2,800 jobs, as reported by Food Navigator. In February, the Government Accountability Office said the FDA is currently dealing with staffing shortages as the number of required safety inspections increases.
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It also doesn’t help that the CDC pulled back on efforts to track certain foodborne diseases last year, with pathogens like cyclospora, listeria, and shigella no longer included in its surveillance program. The FDA also delayed the deadline to comply with the Traceability Rule, a law that introduces new record-keeping requirements for businesses that manufacture, process, pack, or hold certain kinds of food, including fresh leafy greens, peppers, eggs, tomatoes, and more. The goal of the law is to make it easier to track and remove contaminated food. It was supposed to go into effect in January 2026, but the FDA pushed back its enforcement to 2028.
With fewer federal staff members and looser regulations, efforts to better detect, track, and avoid recalls become more difficult. “The solution is not to communicate less about recalls,” Detwiler adds. “It is to prevent more of them, communicate clearly when they occur, explain what went wrong, strengthen the institutions responsible for detecting hazards, and demonstrate that lessons from previous failures are actually being implemented.”
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