US sees sharp rise in foodborne illness cases as safety funding dwindles
More than 12,800 foodborne illness cases have been reported in the United States so far in 2026, driven by multiple outbreaks and reduced resources for food safety oversight.
The Food and Drug Administration has recorded over 12,800 illnesses linked to foodborne outbreaks in 2026, far exceeding the 895 cases reported in the previous year and the highest annual total since 2020. The surge includes a cyclospora outbreak tied to iceberg lettuce that has sickened thousands, a salmonella outbreak linked to jalapeños that has caused at least 431 illnesses and 57 hospitalizations, and a dual-pathogen E. coli and salmonella incident involving alfalfa sprouts that has affected 55 people across 15 states.
Experts attribute the increase to chronic underfunding of food safety programs and recent cuts to public-health grants. >"What is happening this summer just demonstrates to me the vulnerabilities in the system—and what happens when you stress the system," said Barbara Kowalcyk, director of George Washington University’s Institute for Food Safety and Nutrition.
Jennifer McEntire, a food microbiologist and founder of Food Safety Strategy, described the cyclospora outbreak as "absolutely unprecedented" and noted that the pathogen is difficult to detect because it is not included in standard gastrointestinal testing panels.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s case count suggests the cyclospora outbreak may be larger than FDA figures indicate, with about 67 percent of the agency’s 17,180 laboratory-confirmed cases linked to Taylor Farms’ lettuce and an additional 11,844 cases pending confirmation or analysis.
Funding cuts under the previous administration reduced CDC staffing by roughly a quarter, shrinking a laboratory team that responded to cyclospora outbreaks from 11 to three personnel. Leadership gaps have also persisted, with the CDC operating without a permanent director for nearly a year and the FDA lacking a permanent commissioner since May.
In 2025, the federal government trimmed approximately $12 billion in grants to state health departments, limiting the capacity of local agencies to investigate outbreaks. Michigan, for example, lost 23 infectious-disease workers and 123 county health staff, forcing officials to reallocate personnel from other duties.
A 2022 FDA traceability rule that would require detailed record-keeping for high-risk foods has been delayed until July 2028, prompting consumer-health groups to urge Congress to reconsider the postponement. The rule does not apply to importers or brokers, creating a loophole that complicates tracking of foreign-origin products, according to De Ann Davis of the Western Growers Association.
Inspection data show a long-standing disparity between domestic and foreign facility checks, with the FDA conducting an average of 917 foreign inspections per year from 2018 to 2023 compared with 8,353 domestic inspections. The Taylor Farms facility in Mexico linked to the cyclospora outbreak has not been inspected since 2019.
The FDA, in a statement to the publication, highlighted recent budget proposals aimed at expanding state and local information sharing and increasing foreign inspection capacity, asserting that its risk-based oversight system remains robust.
Kowalcyk warned that the peak season for foodborne illnesses typically extends into late summer and early fall, and that warm, humid conditions associated with an anticipated strong El Niño could sustain elevated risk levels.
"A lot of our foodborne illness cases peak in August, September, even early October," Kowalcyk said. "So we're just in the beginning."