Food safety a major cause for concern in US too

The run-up to the midterm elections is turning into a food fight — literally. The summer was marred by a massive foodborne outbreak that sickened scores of people and the recall of tens of thousands of pounds of imported meat, turning the safety of the US food supply into a topic of national conversation and a political cause. Late-night talk show hosts joked about symptoms that included explosive diarrhoea. As a precaution, chain restaurants such as Chipotle and Taco Bell yanked lettuce, jalapeños, and other suspected products from menus. Some food safety scientists blamed the outbreaks on federal cuts to public health.

These dynamics collectively have raised questions about whether it’s safe to order a salad or burger. Democrats have come out on the offensive, saying voters worried about the safety of the US food supply should oust Republicans in the midterm elections. The Trump administration has countered by accusing Democrats of scaremongering over food safety to score political points. The political fracas reflects the toll that large-scale outbreaks have had on the public psyche. Midterm voters have long cared about pocketbook issues such as grocery prices, but the spate of recalls has them worried about whether the food they’re buying is safe to eat — and political leaders are paying attention.

The outbreak linked to cyclospora in lettuce led to almost 20,000 laboratory-confirmed cases of illness from May through August, compared with 1,180 cases during the same span in 2025, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That makes it the largest recorded outbreak of the parasite. “One of the reasons food safety is in the news this year, and people have been rightfully concerned, is the combination of high-profile restaurant names and the absolute colossal number of illnesses,” said Teresa Murray, consumer watchdog director with the US Public Interest Research Group, or PIRG, an advocacy group, referring to a recent cyclosporiasis outbreak. “It’s thousands of people. It makes it more real.” Data shows there have been about 200 food recalls so far in 2026, which is about on par with the number at this time last year, according to PIRG data.

A majority of registered voters have little or no confidence in government oversight of food safety, with Democrats far more likely than Republicans to doubt the protections in place, according to a July survey by Quinnipiac University. Ninety-four percent of US adults indicated they were concerned about the frequency of food recalls in a poll by GS1 US, a data standards organisation. The share of consumers who strongly agree that the US food system produces food that’s safe to eat declined to about 30% in August, from 40% in November, based on survey data released in September by the University of Illinois and Purdue University.

Democrats have jumped at the chance to repeat criticisms of President Donald Trump’s budget cuts and priorities. The Democratic National Committee recently posted a list of recalled food items on social media while calling Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a “complete disaster” who must resign. “Trump is dismantling our government — and it’s harming people,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) posted Sept. 2 on the social platform X, adding: “Slashed food safety agencies cyclospora outbreak.” Just weeks earlier, she had written to Kennedy demanding answers for what she described as the administration’s “ failed response” and its connection to political contributions. Rep. Gabe Amo (D-R.I.) posted Sept. 5 on X: “I’m calling on Trump to stop gutting the FDA & restore its inspectors. We deserve safe food.”

The campaign for Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) posted Sept. 5 on X: “Trump is cutting our food safety funding and workforce, and we have seen far too many food recalls this summer.” But the number of recalls doesn’t tell the whole story. While recalls aren’t markedly up this year compared with 2025, they are up over a broader time span. The country saw 320 food recalls by the Food and Drug Administration and the US Department of Agriculture in 2025, up from 296 in 2024, according to PIRG. The total number of recalls grew 21% from 2021 to 2025, based on an analysis by Trace One, a provider of regulatory guidance software. A rise in Class I recalls, which are the highest priority because the products could cause serious illness or death, drove much of the increase.

But recall numbers can be misleading. For starters, federal agencies do not publicise all recalls, especially if products are no longer on the market. Recall data itself is suspect because a single contaminated food can result in multiple recalls if the item is incorporated into processed food or other products. A far better measure is the number of people sickened, epidemiologists say. And this summer’s specific multistate outbreak from cyclospora was exceptional, affecting people in 21 states.