Is 2026 The Year of the Food Recall? Depends on How You Slice It

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week declared a July recall of more than 19 million eggs a Class I danger. It's the FDA's highest-risk measure. It warns eating the recalled product could result in “serious health consequences or death.” Most of the eggs were sent to stores in the South and Midwest. The news comes after major recalls of jalapenos and lettuce tied to Mexican farms. Critics suggest that Trump administration cuts to food safety programs may be to blame. But the data suggests it's more complex than that.  

The White House cut 20% of the FDA’s staff. And it cut 25% of the staff at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It also dropped the number of microbes and parasites that FoodNet tracks from 8 to 2. FoodNet is an early-warning system for foodborne illnesses. Cyclospora was among those cuts. It's the parasite that caused an outbreak of diarrhea linked to contaminated lettuce.   

Craig Hedberg is the co-director of the Minnesota Integrated Food Safety Center of Excellence. "It is difficult to quantify precisely," he told CNBC. "But it is clear that the cuts to federal funding over the past year or so have reduced our capacity to respond to outbreaks like (cyclospora)."  

Yet a look at FDA data complicates that story. Federal recall totals for 2026 are tracking close to a normal year. Foodborne-illness deaths have inched up over the past two years. But hospital visits linked to recalled food actually fell in 2025 compared with 2024. That's according to a report from US PIRG. It's a group that tracks consumer data. Much of the year-to-year swing traces back to a handful of severe outbreaks. The data does not suggest a steady decline in food safety measures. For example, one listeria outbreak tied to pasta caused 21 of the 22 food-related deaths tracked in 2025.  

The Trump administration argues its cuts are not behind this summer's outbreaks. Health and Human Services officials say the cuts were aimed at international food safety measures. And they pointed to a proposed 2027 budget that would add $33 million to food-safety programs.    

So, is 2026 the year of the food recall? It depends on what’s being measured. The raw number of recalls looks fairly normal. The large scale of a few outbreaks and experts' concerns about a thinner safety net watching for the next one look less so.    

Reflect: When it comes to what's safe to eat, how do you decide which sources of information to trust?

Photo of produce in a grocery store from Unsplash courtesy of nrd.