Food for Thought 2025

Food recalls flooded the headlines in 2024, with a new, scary announcement surfacing every couple of weeks at times. It created the aura of a sudden change in the safety of our food. U.S. PIRG Education Fund fielded dozens and dozens of queries from consumers and media, particularly in the second half of the year: Is our food supply threatened? Were food recalls escalating? Why is this happening?

By year’s end, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) tallied 241 food and beverage recalls and alerts, an increase of 8% compared with 2023. Meanwhile, recalls and alerts through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) totaled 55, a decline of 38% compared with 2023. The FDA regulates about 77% of the nation’s food supply, from produce to pet food, from sandwiches to snacks. The USDA regulates meat, poultry and some fish and egg products. 

More important than the recall announcements: More people in the United States got sick from contaminated food in 2024 than the year before, and the number of people who were hospitalized or died doubled, a new analysis by U.S. PIRG Education Fund found. 

Nearly 1,400 people became ill from food they ate in 2024 – 98% of them from just 13 outbreaks, a stunning fact that shows the consequences of companies producing or selling contaminated food. All but one of the 13 outbreaks involved Listeria, Salmonella or E. coli. 

The FDA and USDA regulate all food sold in the United States – not just products made in this country, with 60% of FDA-registered facilities abroad. Indeed, a significant amount of certain foods is imported: 61% of fresh fruit, 35% of vegetables, and 91% of seafood. 

Overall, when you look at dairy; processed foods; packaged snacks, breads and cereals; and other food in cans and boxes, the United States imports about 15% of our food supply.

All together, the United States had 296 food recall announcements in 2024, a new analysis by U.S. PIRG Education Fund shows. That’s a 5% decrease from 2023. 

However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that food was safer.

The increase in FDA recall announcements also doesn’t automatically mean that produce, spices and snacks were more dangerous in 2024, or that meat and poultry were safer because USDA recalls were down.

The number of recalls indicates only the number of specific products that regulators or companies identified as risky in a given year, either because of testing, on-site inspections, illnesses or other reasons. An increase or decrease could point to more or fewer inspections or more or fewer people going to the doctor.

Here’s what is true about 2024: We saw more high-profile recalls that involved brands we’re familiar with, such as McDonald’s Quarter Pounders and Boar’s Head lunch meat, everyday foods such as eggs, cucumbers, carrots and cinnamon. Then there was the Listeria-related recall of frozen waffles and pancakes – a favorite among many families – involving more than 40 brands and 240 different products. The national news headlines screamed about multiple outbreaks that hospitalized or killed hundreds.

Our biggest takeaway from 2024: We saw a dramatic increase in serious illnesses and deaths associated with unsafe food. The biggest threats stem from Listeria, Salmonella and E. coli.

Overall, contaminated food sickened more people in 2024 than in 2023: total illnesses increased to 1,392, up from 1,118 in 2023.

Worse still, instances of severe illness increased dramatically last year, as hospitalizations more than doubled from 230 in 2023 to 487 in 2024. This increase is worrisome, as severe illness can have long-lasting consequences: lifetime health conditions, distressed loved ones and families burdened by medical expenses.

Sadly, deaths also more than doubled, from eight in 2023 to 19 in 2024, further raising the alarm for us about the food we buy. Deaths in 2024 were associated with deli meat, cucumbers, onions, carrots, soft cheese, chocolate snacks with mushrooms and ready-to-eat meat and poultry.

One such instance was the Listeria outbreak involving deli meats, which hospitalized 60 people across 19 states and is suspected in the deaths of 10 people, the highest number of deaths in any of last year’s outbreaks. Families of those who fell sick were shocked to learn that a Boar’s Head plant in Virginia, now linked to the outbreak, had 69 instances of noncompliance flagged by inspectors in the 12 months before the July 2024 recall. That raises concerns about inspection protocols and the plant’s ability to produce food safely. This was the largest listeriosis outbreak since 2011, when cantaloupe produced by a Colorado farm caused at least 147 illnesses and 33 deaths in 28 states. The Virginia plant was closed in September.

In 2024, one of the worst outbreaks was traced to an unusual issue: toxic levels of muscimol in an edible mushroom product from Prophet Premium Blends. The company recalled all of its Diamond Shruumz products, including microdosing chocolate bars, infused cones and gummies, after being linked to more than 100 illnesses. The FDA’s investigation found a total of 180 illnesses stemming from mushroom chocolate snacks, including 73 hospitalizations and three deaths. Only 118 of the illnesses were directly linked to Diamond Shruumz.

TWO BIG CUCUMBER RECALLS

On an even wider scale, 551 people (that we know of) became sick from cucumbers containing Salmonella in 34 states and D.C.

A recall was issued by Fresh Start Produce Sales Inc. Over the course of four months, 155 people were hospitalized because of their symptoms, including fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. Some connected illnesses didn’t involve cucumbers sold by Fresh Start. Even though the company recalled its contaminated cucumbers May 31, people were still getting sick two months later, on July 26.

A second outbreak of Salmonella, initially connected to SunFed brand cucumbers, emerged in November. This led to 11 additional recalls of various brands and products that included the cucumbers grown by Agrotato, S.A. de C.V. in Mexico. In the end, the outbreak connected with Agrotato, S.A. de C.V.’s cucumbers caused 113 illnesses in 23 states, including 28 hospitalizations. This escalated some consumers’ concerns about the seemingly healthy food they routinely purchase.

All of these awful numbers beg the question: What can consumers, companies, and agencies do to help reduce foodborne illness? This report digs into the problems and explores solutions.

9 allergens require disclosure on food packages:

Crustacean shellfish
Eggs
Fish
Milk
Peanuts
Sesame
Soy
Tree nuts
Wheat

KEY FINDINGS

Recalls and safety/public health alerts are essentially the same because they both involve food that may be unsafe. Regulators announce recalls for products still for sale; they announce alerts for products that are no longer available for purchase but that may still be in consumers’ or restaurants’ pantries, freezers or refrigerators. We use the term “recalls” to cover both. The overwhelming majority of announcements are recalls anyway.

Our findings:

• The number of recalls because of Listeria, Salmonella or E. coli increased significantly in 2024 and comprised 39% of all recalls.
• 1,392 people became ill from food that was recalled in 2024 – 98% of them from just 13 outbreaks, which points to what can happen when companies produce or sell contaminated food. All but one of the outbreaks involved Listeria, Salmonella or E. coli.
• The total number of food recalls decreased slightly in 2024, to 296 at the FDA and USDA combined. The total has bounced around 300 to 400 since 2018. The number of recall announcements is a function of several factors including:
  1. Testing by companies and regulators.
  2. Inspections by state and federal regulators.
  3. The number of sick people who seek medical care.
  4. The ability of testing through genome sequencing to identify the particular genetic “fingerprints” for genomes of bacteria and viruses.
  5. Investigators’ ability to trace which specific food caused the illnesses.
  6. A single recall that cascades into others, because of ingredients used in multiple products or brands.
  7. Finally, the actual safety of food.
• Undeclared allergens/ingredients was the single biggest cause for recalls, totaling 101, or 34% of the year’s recalls. That figure is down notably from 2023, when the 154 allergen-related recalls comprised nearly half of the year’s total.We speculated that more awareness among food producers that sesame is an allergen that requires disclosure (as of Jan. 1, 2023) accounted for part of the decline. It did, but only a tiny part. The number of recalls stemming only from undeclared sesame dropped from 13 in 2023 to seven in 2024.The top undeclared allergen: Peanuts and tree nuts, which includes almonds, cashews, pecans and walnuts. (The FDA just removed coconut from the list of tree nuts considered to be allergens on Jan. 6, 2025, but coconut was an allergen in 2024.)

• Ranking No. 2: Recalls because of potential Listeria contamination reached 65, compared with 47 in 2023.
• Ranking No. 3: Recalls because of potential Salmonella contamination hit 41, compared with 27 in 2023.
• Ranking No. 4: There was a surge in recalls because of excessive lead in foods – 13 in 2024, compared with four in 2023. All of these were in cinnamon products.
• Ranking No. 5: Recalls because food contained metal, plastic or some other potentially hazardous material declined slightly, from 15 in 2023 to 12 in 2024.
• Recalls of pet food increased, from seven to 11. Pet food is regulated by the FDA. Nine involved Salmonella or Listeria; two involved metal in the food. We care about our pets, but also important: humans can get sick from handling contaminated pet food or bowls that pets eat out of; this has happened as recently as 2023.

Contaminated food in stores or restaurants is a real problem. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that one in six Americans – become ill every year from contaminated food or beverages. Among those people, an estimated 128,000 end up in the hospital and 3,000 die every year, although those numbers haven’t been updated in a decade to reflect population growth.

There’s a reasonable chance that you or someone close to you became ill from food poisoning the last couple of years but didn’t realize it – unless the illness was severe enough to lead to a doctor’s visit.

In fact, the CDC generally says the actual number of people sickened in any particular outbreak and from any foodborne illness is “likely much higher than the number reported” because so many people aren’t sick enough to go to the doctor and be evaluated or tested. Healthier people may experience just a slight stomach ache or digestive issue, but that doesn’t mean we all shouldn’t take food safety seriously.

You can take steps to decrease your risk by staying informed and reducing the chance of bacteria that may already be in your food from multiplying enough to make you sick.

This means handling food safely in your home and finding ways to learn about recalls that might affect you or your family, especially if someone in your home has a food allergy or is elderly, very young, pregnant or immunocompromised. We provide more specifics on ways you can protect yourself in our consumer guides, “How to keep your food safe at home” and “How to find out about food recalls.”

OUTBREAKS

Food regulators define an outbreak of foodborne illness as “two or more people getting the same illness from the same contaminated food or drink.” There were a total of 13 major foodborne outbreaks in 2024 with confirmed illnesses and traced to a particular product that was recalled.

These outbreaks comprised 1,359 of the 1,392 foodborne illnesses reported in 2024. This means that 98% of the illnesses in 2024 stemmed from just 13 outbreaks.

There are an additional 14 FDA outbreak investigations in 2024 that were closed. The FDA sometimes conducts investigations that it closes without recalling a product or identifying a specific number of ill people.

As of Feb. 7, 2025, there were two active FDA investigations that started in 2024 – one traced to romaine lettuce with 88 illnesses from E. coli) and one with 34 illnesses from Listeria but not linked to a specific type of food.

There were two additional USDA outbreak investigations for 2024, one closed investigation for Salmonella in September 2024 with ground beef as the suspected source, and one active investigation for Listeria in December 2024, with no product type or brand identified yet.

Among the closed investigations, several were traced to a type of product but not a brand or specific source. The types of products identified: alfalfa sprouts, spinach, shrimp salad, imported parsley, mangoes and jalapeno peppers. The causes of illnesses were Listeria, Salmonella, E. coli and Cyclospora cayetanensis, a microscopic parasite that causes intestinal illness.

The 13 outbreaks with illnesses and specific product recalls involved the following contaminants:

• Five instances of Salmonella: found in cucumbers, eggs, fresh basil and charcuterie meats.
• Three instances of Listeria: queso fresco and cotija cheese; deli meats and liverwurst; and ready-to-eat meat and poultry products.
• Four instances of E. coli: organic carrots, onions in McDonald’s Quarter Pounders, organic walnuts and raw cheddar cheese.
• One instance of toxic levels of muscimol in mushroom-infused snacks.

WHAT MAKES US SICK?

Top 5 foodborne germs causing illness:

● Norovirus
● Salmonella (non-typhoidal)
● Clostridium perfringens
● Campylobacter
● Staphylococcus aureus

Top 5 foodborne germs causing hospitalizations:

● Salmonella (non-typhoidal)
● Norovirus
● Campylobacter
● Toxoplasma gondii
● E. coli O157

Top 5 foodborne germs causing deaths:

● Salmonella (non-typhoidal)
● Toxoplasma gondii
● Listeria monocytogenes
● Norovirus
● Campylobacter

FOODBORNE PATHOGENS

After undeclared allergens, the most common reasons for recalls are Listeria, Salmonella, excessive lead and foreign objects in the food.

Listeria

Listeria led to 65 of the recalls, or 22% of recalls in 2024. There were 47 in 2022, and 56 in 2019. Consuming food contaminated by Listeria monocytogenes bacteria can cause Listeriosis, which can be a serious infection. The CDC estimates that about 1,600 people get Listeriosis every year. About 260 die.

Salmonella

Salmonella caused 41 recalls, or 14% of recalls in 2024. There were 27 salmonella recalls in 2023 and 21 five years ago in 2019.

Salmonella can be quite serious. Each year Salmonella causes an estimated:

• 35 million infections.
• 26,500 hospitalizations.
• 420 deaths in the United States.

Consuming or touching food or objects contaminated with Salmonella bacteria can cause infection and illness. That’s why experts urge frequent hand-washing before eating or working in the kitchen or even before putting on makeup or otherwise touching your eyes, nose or mouth.

Illnesses caused by Salmonella occur more often in the summer because the bacteria love warm temperatures and unrefrigerated foods at outdoor gatherings.

Norovirus

The CDC says Norovirus is No. 1 cause of contaminated food outbreaks in this country, responsible for about 58% of food-related illness outbreaks. It’s estimated that foodborne norovirus costs about $2 billion every year in the United States, primarily because of medical bills and lost productivity.

Each year norovirus causes an estimated:

• 900 deaths, mostly among people age 65 and older.
• 109,000 hospitalizations.
• 465,000 emergency department visits, mostly by young children.
• 2,270,000 outpatient clinic visits annually, mostly by young children.
• 19 million to 21 million illnesses.