America Has a Growing Food Safety Crisis No One Is Talking About

Just three months into 2025, consumers have much to worry about on the food safety front.

Avian flu is rampant in more than a dozen states, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). While it isn’t a danger to humans, it has spread to dairy herds and poultry farms, infecting more than 163 million animals. 

Meanwhile, there are Salmonella outbreaks in multiple states, affecting eggs, cucumbers, and peanut butter, the CDC reports. Even mini pastries sold by hotel caterers have been withdrawn from distribution as part of a broader recall by the Food and Drug Administration. All this is happening as food safety numbers for 2024 have come in, and they look scary. 

According to a consumer alert from the US PIRG Education Fund, hospitalizations and deaths from contaminated food doubled in 2024. Food recalls for Salmonella, Listeria, and E. coli jumped by 41% across the United States. A staggering 98% of all illnesses were linked to just 13 outbreaks. As the data increased, so did the impact. According to US PIRG, more people in the United States got sick from contaminated food in 2024 than in the previous year, and the number of hospitalizations and deaths doubled. Nearly 1,400 individuals fell ill from food they consumed in 2024, compared to 1,118 in 2023. Tragically, deaths more than doubled last year, with 19 fatalities recorded, up from eight in 2023. 

In January, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued five recommendations — such as “instating additional policies needed to effectively address pathogen reduction” — for actions the Agriculture Department could take to strengthen the oversight of meat and poultry. As of late March, all five recommendations remained open. 

Foodborne illnesses are scaring consumers

In September, McDonald’s faced an E. coli scare that impacted its Quarter Pounder burgers. This outbreak sickened 104 individuals across 14 states, leading to 34 hospitalizations, four instances of serious illness, and one death, according to the CDC. The source was eventually traced back to fresh slivered onions. 

Prior to this incident, McDonald’s had been experiencing steady increases in year-over-year business, partly due to its $5 meal deal promotion. 

However, a study by Placer.ai, which tracks retail and restaurant trends, revealed that once the outbreak was announced in mid-October, customers began to avoid the chain. During the week of October 21, visits decreased by 6.31% compared to the same time last year. “Historically, food safety events like these can impact visitation trends for an extended period,” said R.J. Hottovy, head of analytical research at Placer.ai.

McDonald’s acted swiftly. Taylor Farms, which supplied yellow onions to McDonald’s restaurants in multiple states, voluntarily recalled the product on October 22, prompting restaurants in those areas to temporarily cease using slivered onions. McDonald’s also halted the serving of Quarter Pounder hamburgers in the impacted states. 

By December, the CDC announced the outbreak was resolved. However, McDonald’s fourth-quarter traffic was still down 1.4%, marking the largest drop since the onset of COVID-19, though it was less severe than the initial decline. Hottovy indicated that these measures likely mitigated the impact on sales.

The riskiest states for food safety

Last year, foodborne illness outbreaks occurred almost every month. Additionally, some states are at a higher risk when it comes to food safety. 

A recent report by ABM Equipment, which manufactures equipment for the agriculture and food service industries, says that Florida is the most dangerous state for food safety, primarily due to frequent disease outbreaks and Salmonella concerns. 

California ranks as the second riskiest state, having the nation’s highest number of fast-food outlets and experiencing more foodborne illness outbreaks than any other state. Michigan ranks third, partly due to widespread food insecurity. 

The study evaluated states based on 2024 metrics, including the number of fast-food chains, obesity rates, presence of food safety programs, foodborne illness reports, food insecurity rates, and Salmonella rates per 100,000 people. ABM assigned scores based on that data. Rounding out the 10 riskiest states are Colorado, New York, Kentucky, Tennessee, Hawaii, Washington, and New Mexico.

On the other end of the scale, Maine received the highest score for food safety factors. The safest states also included North Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, Indiana, Wyoming, Arizona, Montana, Iowa, and Minnesota. Among these states, food-borne outbreaks were particularly low. North Dakota reported just one outbreak compared to 107 in California, which had the highest number. When it came to Salmonella outbreaks, Alaska and Maine were tied with only nine per 100,000 residents, while Mississippi, the state with the highest rate, recorded 39.8 per 100,000 people 

Turmoil in Washington 

Concerns about food safety have surged in recent weeks due to the widespread federal firings by the Trump administration. On February 17, Jim Jones, the director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s food division, resigned, citing “indiscriminate layoffs” that made it impossible to continue in his role. 

According to Food Fix, which monitors food safety issues, Jones’ resignation letter estimated that 89 of the 2,000 employees in his division were let go in mid-February. Jones had served as deputy commissioner for human foods since September 2023. A former official at the Environmental Protection Agency, Jones was appointed to help restructure the FDA’s food division following significant criticism regarding the agency’s handling of the infant formula crisis and other failures related to health and safety issues.

His replacement, announced in late February, is Kyle Diamantas, an attorney at the prominent law firm of Jones Day, according to Food Safety magazine. Based in Miami, Diamantas' biography states that he has over ten years of experience advising clients in food, cosmetics, dietary supplements, drugs, and other life sciences and consumer goods on a broad range of regulatory, compliance, and enforcement issues. 

However, Vanity Fair described him as a hunting buddy of Donald Trump Jr. The two were pictured on X, previously known as Twitter, after hunting two massive Osceola wild turkeys, the kind that can block traffic and intimidate motorists. 

Although the FDA faced a wave of firings in mid-February, the Associated Press reported that the agency was attempting to rehire the dismissed staffers. In the agency’s food program, at least 10 staffers responsible for reviewing the safety of new ingredients were offered their jobs back, according to a food staffer who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity to discuss internal agency matters.

There will be plenty for those staffers to do once they return to work. Last month, the FDA announced it was recalling frozen shakes sold to nursing homes, hospitals, and other institutions, with cases reported in 21 states. These shakes are often prescribed for elderly individuals and other patients who lack the strength to eat solid food.

However, the turmoil continues to shake the food safety community. Two key food safety advisory committees have been terminated — the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) and the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI).

In a statement, Consumer Reports stated, “The termination of these two important advisory committees is very alarming and should serve as a warning to consumers that food safety will not be a priority at USDA in the foreseeable future.”