About 48 million Americans suffer foodborne illnesses every year, with 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Despite reassurances that America has the safest food supply in the world, a 2025 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report called foodborne illness in the U.S. "a serious and continuing problem." The issue isn't just about occasional outbreaks; it's a systemic failure driven by underfunding, reduced oversight, and industrial practices that amplify contamination risks.

Why Is Fresh Produce Such a High-Risk Food?

Fresh fruits and vegetables are essential to a healthy diet, but eating raw produce exposes you to hidden pathogens and parasites that can cause serious illness or death. Produce is linked to nearly half (46 percent) of all foodborne illness cases in the U.S., with leafy greens like spinach and lettuce among the most frequently recalled items.

This summer's Cyclospora outbreak, which investigators traced to shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms, was among the largest foodborne illness outbreaks in U.S. history. Nearly 23,000 cases were reported, including more than 17,000 laboratory-confirmed cases. The outbreak sent 922 people to the hospital and caused two deaths, according to the latest CDC data.

The contamination pathways are numerous and difficult to control. Fruits and vegetables grown outdoors can be contaminated by irrigation water, fecal matter from wild or domestic animals that wander through fields, improperly applied manure as fertilizer, harmful bacteria in soil, and poor worker hygiene. Without access to proper handwashing stations, bacteria on workers' hands can transfer to the product during harvesting and packing.

How Has Industrial Food Processing Made the Problem Worse?

Decades ago, most Americans made salads from whole heads of lettuce or cabbage and bunches of spinach. Today, many shoppers choose convenient bagged salads, which carry a higher risk of contamination because the ingredients are washed and chopped together. If one ingredient is compromised, the pathogen spreads to the entire batch.

"When you introduce mass production into a ready-to-eat raw product, if you make a mistake, it's a big one. That's why I have said repeatedly over the years, convenience is just not worth the risk," said Bill Marler, a Seattle attorney who has advocated for food safety for more than 30 years.

Bill Marler, Food Safety Attorney and Founder of Food Safety News

What's Broken in the U.S. Food Safety System?

For decades, Congress and past White House administrations have underfunded food safety programs at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the CDC. All three agencies were forced to reduce staff further in response to budget cuts ordered by President Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The consequences have been severe.

The CDC ended its Cyclospora surveillance, the parasite implicated in this summer's Taylor Farms lettuce outbreak. Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports and former deputy director of the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), explained the impact of this decision.

"The CDC essentially lost its hunting license when they were forced to remove this pathogen from its surveillance list," said Brian Ronholm.

Brian Ronholm, Director of Food Policy at Consumer Reports

The FDA inspects less than one percent of the food entering the U.S., even though many large outbreaks have been caused by imported products. About 60 percent of the fresh fruit and 38 percent of the fresh vegetables Americans eat are grown in foreign countries, according to the USDA. Taylor Farms has "an extensive history of recalls" involving lettuce grown in Mexico, yet the FDA did not issue any import alerts for Taylor Farms or other growers in Mexico.

What Specific Failures Are Allowing Contamination to Spread?

Several interconnected failures have created a perfect storm for foodborne illness outbreaks:

• Inadequate Field Practices: Aerial footage from a 2023 Netflix documentary showed produce fields in Yuma, Arizona, located right next to giant cattle feedlots. A good rain could carry runoff from cattle droppings into the irrigation systems of those fields, and this same recipe for disaster is still happening today.
• Delayed Regulatory Response: The FDA waited 30 days after announcing the Taylor Farms Cyclospora lettuce outbreak before dispatching inspectors to Mexico. This delay could mean investigators will never know the specific culprit in the case, since Cyclospora is spread through human feces and is generally transmitted when infected feces contaminate food or water.
• Stalled Traceability Rules: Congress passed the Food Safety Modernization Act in 2011, instructing the FDA to create a strong traceback system. The Food Traceability Rule requires businesses that manufacture, process, pack, or hold high-risk foods, including leafy greens, peppers, sprouts, and fresh fruits and vegetables, to maintain enhanced electronic recordkeeping. After several delays, the rule was set to take effect in July 2026, but Congress moved the implementation to 2028, bowing to industry pressure.

A Quinnipiac University poll conducted in late July, during the Cyclospora outbreak, found that only 43 percent of respondents had a lot (12 percent) or some (31 percent) confidence in the U.S. government's oversight of food safety. Meanwhile, 55 percent said they have "not so much confidence" (25 percent) or none at all (30 percent).

What Can Consumers Do to Reduce Their Risk?

While no system could eliminate all foodborne illness outbreaks, consumers can take steps to minimize their exposure to contaminated produce:

• Choose Whole Produce Over Pre-Cut: Buy whole heads of lettuce, cabbage, and bunches of spinach instead of bagged salads. When you prepare produce yourself, you reduce the risk that contamination in one ingredient will spread to an entire batch.
• Wash Produce Thoroughly: Rinse fresh fruits and vegetables under running water before eating or preparing them. While washing cannot eliminate all pathogens, it can reduce surface contamination.
• Stay Informed About Recalls: Monitor FDA and CDC recall announcements, especially for high-risk items like leafy greens, peppers, sprouts, and berries. Subscribe to food safety alerts from the FDA website to receive notifications about products linked to outbreaks.

The broader issue, however, requires systemic change. Food safety experts argue that Congress must adequately fund the FDA, USDA, and CDC; implement the Food Traceability Rule without further delays; and hold produce growers accountable for preventing contamination at the source.