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Summer of Food Recalls Exposes Holes in Safety Net
The outbreak has led to 922 hospitalizations and two deaths, while federal staffing and surveillance cuts slowed detection and response, experts said.
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed 17,180 cases of cyclosporiasis between May 1 and August 24, 2026, resulting in 922 hospitalizations and two deaths across 48 states. Federal officials linked the multistate outbreak to iceberg lettuce from central Mexico distributed by Taylor Farms.
- Since December 2024, the Trump administration reduced the CDC workforce by 28% and FDA staff by 23%, causing inspections of foreign food facilities to plummet to historic lows. The administration also terminated $5.78 billion in CDC grants appropriated by Congress.
- The Department of Government Efficiency downsized the CDC's parasite surveillance staff from 11 people to three, while federal agencies now track only two foodborne pathogens through FoodNet, down from eight. Food safety experts want the pathogens reinstated.
- Michigan and 22 other states sued the Trump administration in June 2025 over federal funding cuts affecting public health infrastructure. Sandra Eskin, who leads Stop Foodborne Illness, likened the cuts to "Jenga," warning "these are all pieces of wood in that game where you start pulling them out and then the whole thing collapses."
- Regulators delayed implementing food safety rules enacted over a decade ago that could have improved outbreak tracking and response. The White House dismissed concerns about federal response capabilities, though experts warn the scope and severity of foodborne illnesses are growing.
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The McDowell News+7 Reposted by 7 other sources
Summer of food recalls exposes holes in safety net
Jalapenos. Frozen berries.
A Summer of Recalls Exposes Holes in the Nation’s Food Safety Net
A wave of food recalls and a major foodborne illness outbreak are raising concerns about gaps in the nation’s food safety system, including the impact of cuts to public health agencies and their ability to monitor and respond to threats.
Who decides what is safe to eat: The cyclosporiasis outbreak and the failure of American food safety
The largest cyclosporiasis outbreak in US history has spread through 48 states without a source being named. A century after the Pure Food and Drug Act, the apparatus built to answer such questions is being dismantled.
·United States
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Cyclospora outbreaks expose a U.S. food safety system that’s been crumbling for decades—and Musk’s DOGE cuts are ‘only going to make that worse’
“None of this is efficiency,” one food safety expert said of DOGE’s government personnel and research cuts. "This is all whatever the opposite of efficiency is.”
·New York, United States
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources15
Leaning Left4Leaning Right1Center7Last UpdatedBias Distribution59% Center
Bias Distribution
- 59% of the sources are Center
59% Center
L 33%
C 59%
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