In the past several months, there have been a number of high-profile recalls, including organic carrots, SunFed cucumbers, Boar's Head liverwurst, Costco eggs, frozen waffles, and onions found in McDonald's Quarter Pounders.
Such outbreaks are common. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 48 million Americans are sickened, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die of foodborne diseases each year. In the most recent serious outbreaks, 60 people were hospitalized and 10 died after eating Boar's Head deli meat contaminated with Listeria, while 34 hospitalizations and one death were reported from E. coli-tainted onions served on McDonald's Quarter Pounder hamburgers.
The severity and frequency of these recalls have left some wondering: What is safe to eat anymore? FDA data show that food and cosmetics-related recalls have indeed gone up since 2021, but it's not unusual. Since FDA food inspections dipped during COVID, a rise is expected as society returns to the post-pandemic status quo.
So far, in 2024, there have been 1,908 food and cosmetics recalls. This is comparable to pre-pandemic numbers: in 2018, there were 1,958 food and cosmetic recalls. Experts say that recalls alone aren't a reason to worry -- they point to new technology that allows us to catch foodborne illness outbreaks faster.
"New whole genome DNA sequencing technology is being used that enables more accurate detection of where foodborne pathogens are coming from. You catch foodborne illness outbreaks earlier, and therefore, they are smaller," said Jørgen Schlundt, former World Health Organization director of food safety and zoonoses. "The U.S. is really ahead with this technology."
For some consumers, such as Mary Ann Bielski, 70, of Troy, the recent recalls have confirmed concerns with the industrial food system, influencing how they shop: "I switched to organic because I have a 2.5-year-old granddaughter and felt that was safer," she said.
Research hasn't consistently shown that organic foods are safer or more nutrient-dense than their conventional counterparts, although organic foods have fewer synthetic pesticides and fertilizers.
Experts say that recalls alone aren't a reason to worry -- they point to new technology that helps catch foodborne illness outbreaks faster. However, trust in the government's ability to ensure a safe food system is at a record low, according to a recent Gallup poll. It showed 57% of U.S. adults have a "great deal" or "fair amount" of confidence in the government to keep the food supply safe, down from 68% in 2019.
The FDA, which oversees about 80% of the food supply in the United States, divides recalls into three categories: Class 1, Class 2 and Class 3. Class 1 recalls are the most severe, where there's a reasonable probability of adverse health consequences or death.
This year, a majority of food and cosmetics recalls have been Class 1. That leads some food safety experts to say there's lots of room for improvement in the nation's processes for detecting contamination in the food supply.
"I disagree with the narrative that the number of recalls is a sign that the food system is working," said Frank Yiannas, former FDA deputy commissioner and former vice president of food safety at Walmart. "Every recall is a food system failure. On average, there's five recalls every day."
Over the past 25 years, the number of foodborne illnesses in the United States has largely remained the same, though instances have increased for some pathogens, CDC data show. "That's a sign there's much work to be done still," Yiannas said.
However, not all recalls are cause for alarm. Recalls are issued for many reasons, including misbranding and undeclared allergens. For instance, this week the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced a recall of 13-ounce bags of Lay's Classic potato chips sold in Oregon and Washington for undeclared milk content.. The FDA says no allergic reactions from consuming the recalled chips have been reported.
'Much work to be done'
"If you really want to do something about foodborne diseases, you have to go to the farm," said Schlundt, former WHO food safety and zoonoses director.
Some environmental groups have linked the recent recalls to factory farming.
"Crops grown in fields near animal feeding operations could be contaminated with bacteria from animal manure that leads to recalls," said Anne Schechinger, Midwest director for the advocacy group Environmental Working Group. One pathway of contamination is when E. coli from animal manure gets into irrigation canals that are used by farmers to water crops or mix into chemicals/fertilizers.
In 2018, an E. coli outbreak in romaine lettuce that led to 96 hospitalizations and five deaths was traced to a nearby feedlot in Yuma, Ariz. Under current FDA rules, animal activity (including being near a CAFO) is a recognized risk factor farmers must consider in their annual risk assessments. But testing water for contamination is left up to farmers' own assessment of that risk. "That essentially makes water testing voluntary," said Schechinger.
But the cause of recent recalls is still unclear. "It takes time. Oftentimes, it takes a year for the FDA to find the source for produce-related foodborne illness outbreaks," Schechinger said.
"E. coli and salmonella strains are more prevalent in factory farming situations. The more animals you put together, the more likely you'll have contamination of the whole flock/herd," said Schlundt.
But not all foodborne illness outbreaks are related to factory farming. "We can't overly simplify and think that all produce recalls are factory farming linked," Yiannas said. "Companies need to have better risk assessments and food safety controls."
Yiannas, who was recently appointed chief food safety adviser for Boar's Head, offers deli meat as an example: "A food safety hurdle could look like having high-pressure pasteurization, so if there was even a trace level of contamination, pasteurization would inactivate that."
Labor is another issue. "Labor in the food industry is a major challenge to food safety ... turnover is extraordinarily high compared to past seasons," he said.
Most hired crop farm workers are foreign-born, according to the USDA, which estimates that roughly half of these workers are undocumented. Oftentimes, they face exploitative and unsanitary conditions.
Is local food safer?
A majority of Americans have avoided buying certain foods in response to the recalls and confidence in the safety of grocery store foods has decreased, according to a 2024 Gallup poll.
Data don't show that local food (farmers markets, direct from farms) is safer than products bought at conventional grocery stores. Small farms are also not required to have a Good Agricultural Practices certification under the Food Safety Modernization Act. But shopping locally can offer consumers more transparency.
"When you shop local, you can have the conversation with the farmer about how they grew the product and where they grew it. That's information you're just not getting from the sign in a grocery store," said Stefanie Stauffer, manager of the Ann Arbor Farmers Market.
"I feel very accountable," said Scott Robertello, co-owner of Kapnick Orchards in Britton. "I see the person buying my food every week, so we take the health of the food we sell very seriously."
Kapnick Orchards employs mostly local workers, plus four migrant workers through Michigan's H2A farm worker program. "We've had the same group of migrant workers for three years. We train them every year, including food safety," Robertello said. "They get paid very well: $18.50 per hour plus bonuses based on how much they harvest."
Added Stauffer: "Although many people look at the farmers' market as more expensive, there's a lot less hidden costs involved, including less worker exploitation."
Many shoppers are willing to pay that price premium to make more informed choices about their food. One of those shoppers is Lisa C. Young, 63, of Ann Arbor, who's been shopping from farmers markets for 30 years teaches a class on local food at the University of Michigan.
"The industrial food system is so focused on maximizing yields and not so much on quality ... the recent E. coli outbreaks have reinforced my commitment to buying local food," Young said.
Jane Schulak, 60, feels the same way. Every weekend, she makes the hour-long drive from Birmingham to Ann Arbor to get her groceries from Argus Farm Stop. Argus, which opened in 2014, operates as an "everyday, year-round farmers market."
"I love that every item at Argus is labeled with the farm where it comes from," Schulak said. "You can trust the vegetables and dairy. I feel that it's safer."
At Argus, farmers receive 70% of the selling price. By comparison, growers received an average of 15.9 cents per retail food sales dollar through traditional food channels in 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"I feel that our food is safer," said Kathy Sample, co-owner of Argus Farm Stop. "We know all our farmers, we visit their farms every year, and since our supply chain is shorter, there's less middlemen and entry points for contamination."
In 10 years, Sample said they've only had one recall: "There was a customer who thought they might've gotten food poisoning from a burrito. Shortly after, we got the person who made the burrito talking to the customer.
"Compare that to food from a conventional supermarket -- if you get sick from the food, you won't get a phone call from the farm. The employee stocking the item at the supermarket has no idea where the food came from."
At Argus, employees are trained to build relationships with farmers. Most of the employees have worked on farms.
Food safety has some consumers reconsidering their choices at the grocery store.
Bielski is the food manager of Tony Sports Bar, which her husband owns, in Ferndale. "Because of food recalls, we switched from fresh chicken to frozen chicken out of food safety concerns," she said.
"I make sure to keep on top of food recalls through notifications from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and news," Bielski said. "You just have to be careful."