What's The Deal With All The Food Recalls And Outbreaks Lately?

were pulled from the shelves due to concerns they contained . Food recalls have always been a thing — the and release new alerts on a near-daily basis — but they’ve steadily increased over the past few years. food recalls rose 20% from 2020 to 2023.

There have also been more , which carry the highest risk of severe illness and death. , chair of the department of food science at Rutgers University. For example, the USDA issued 124 recalls in .



That dropped to 31 in , amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and climbed back up to 65 in . If food recalls are, in fact, becoming more common, it’s natural to wonder if the manufacturers are at fault. Detwiler thinks it’s unlikely companies have intentionally deprioritized food safety.

But have other pressures — such as labor shortages, inflation and increased demand — negatively affected food safety practices? It’s plausible. Many large food manufacturers, including McDonald’s, typically have outstanding reputations as being food safety leaders, Schaffner said. But when companies cut costs, food safety is often the first department that takes a hit.

“They may reduce investments in critical areas like employee training, sanitation protocols or equipment upgrades, all of which can contribute to food safety issues,” Detwiler said. Supply chain disruptions, which have continued to affect the food industry since the pandemic, may make it more difficult to maintain food safety standards. “One contaminated point in the supply chain can lead to large-scale outbreaks,” Detwiler said.

shows that modern intensive animal farming and unsafe agricultural practices have also contributed to the spread of pathogens. Some pathogens, such as listeria, thrive in cold, moist environments like that slice of Boar’s Head deli meat, said Related..

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