When it rains, it pours - and apparently, when it pours, it's contaminated. This summer kicked off with Cyclospora cayetanensis, a diarrhea-causing parasite, hitching a ride on iceberg lettuce. Then came Shiga toxin - producing bacteria in organic frozen berries, a Salmonella outbreak linked to Whole Foods guacamole (traced to tainted jalapeños, with pico de gallo, salsa fresca, and spicy dips also implicated), ricotta-style cheese recalled for Listeria, both Salmonella and E. coli in products from the aptly named Everything Sprouts, and 10,000 cases of lightly fried tofu flagged for potential printing ink contamination. Yes, printing ink. Because why not?
This flood of foodborne illness arrives just as our prevention systems may be hobbled. Since last year, three cyclospora-research projects at the Department of Agriculture have lost funding or staffing, the CDC team tracking the parasite's genetics has nearly vanished, and experienced food-safety employees have left or been fired. The bureaucracy is crumbling, and the produce aisle is a mess.
But let's be fair: the status quo was never great. According to 2019 CDC estimates, Americans suffer through at least 9.9 million bouts of foodborne illness each year; over 50,000 end up in the hospital, and about 1,000 die. Depending on how you measure, 2026 stats are in line with recent history. Remember the Salmonella-dusted cucumbers of summer 2024 that sickened over 500 souls? Or the cantaloupes that killed half a dozen in 2023? Occasional salad-based catastrophes are the norm. Food-safety experts say about 150 million meals of leafy greens are served daily in this country. A very small proportion will make you ill - as always.
But one outbreak suggests our 'very small proportion' might be growing. While jalapeño and berry outbreaks have precedents, the cyclospora summer stands alone. Annual cases of cyclosporiasis have crept from hundreds in the 2010s to a few thousand in the early 2020s (partly due to faster diagnosis via rapid-PCR screening). This year, the CDC has confirmed 17,180 cases, with thousands more suspected; state agencies tally over 30,000 infections. 'It's just absolutely crazy,' said Kalmia Kniel, an expert at the University of Delaware and former president of the International Association for Food Protection. 'It is completely overwhelming and insane that this happened.' Nice to know experts share our overwhelm.
No one knows exactly why this year's caseload got so big. The largest cluster, centered in the upper Midwest, links to iceberg lettuce grown in Mexico. Kniel suspects secondary outbreaks via contaminated water in Michigan; Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota sees no evidence for that. Either way, how the parasite got into the food supply in Mexico remains a mystery. Taylor Farms, which recalled its lettuce in July, is 'one of the leading produce companies in terms of food safety,' Kniel said. And yet here we are.
Could the government do more? Opinions vary. Kniel says FDA and CDC posted information more slowly than in past years. Steven Mandernach of the Association of Food and Drug Officials says information is coming out as efficiently as ever. Osterholm declares, 'We have hit an all-time low, in my 50 years in public health, in our capacity to identify and respond to foodborne outbreaks,' and calls the slow response 'public-health malpractice.' HHS spokesperson Grace Davis Jamison countered that claims of lacking transparency overlook the extensive information FDA and CDC have shared, and that no FDA investigators were lost to staffing changes, nor was the CDC lab affected.
Perhaps the disagreement stems from acknowledging past failings. The system has long been underfunded, says Barbara Kowalcyk of George Washington University's Institute for Food Safety and Nutrition Security. Recent departures of experienced personnel have made things worse. 'We had one hand tied behind our back before this administration happened, and now we have both hands tied,' she said.
History suggests meaningful investment in food safety comes only after a tragic outbreak. 'It was the 1993 Jack in the Box outbreak that really changed things at USDA,' Kowalcyk said, referring to the contaminated hamburgers that killed four children. A 2006 E. coli outbreak in bagged spinach, causing hundreds of illnesses and $200 million in lost sales, helped inspire the Food Safety Modernization Act. Now we have the cyclospora summer. 'I think that this is going to drive another paradigm shift,' Kowalcyk said.
Cyclosporiasis is, mercifully, a relatively gentle and self-limiting disease. Many recover within weeks. Despite tens of thousands of cases (and many undiagnosed), just two deaths have been reported. Their loss is tragic; the economic devastation and consumer fear are a shame. But given that this ranks among the largest foodborne-illness outbreaks in U.S. history, the outcomes seem modest. Consider this a solace and a warning: our summer of contamination could have been much worse.