Sara Moore
Science Editor
The summer of 2026 yielded food recalls that had consumers clearing out their refrigerators and side-eyeing the produce at their local grocery stores. The biggest case of food-related illness this summer was Cyclospora, a microscopic parasite that is spread when food becomes contaminated with infected fecal matter. This can lead to severe gastrointestinal symptoms. The outbreak was first reported by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on May 1. As of August 24, 17,180 laboratory-confirmed cases have been reported, with Michigan experiencing the greatest number of cases. The CDC has reported cases in 48 states with 922 hospitalizations and 2 deaths linked to Cyclospora. On July 18, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a recall of Taylor Farms lettuce due to a positive test for Cyclospora, although on July 19 the FDA reported that the test yielded a false positive. The Cyclospora outbreak is ongoing but experts believe cases will begin to decrease in September as the parasite reaches the end of its life cycle.
Beyond lettuce, consumers faced many other product recalls throughout the summer that included jalapeños, frozen blueberries, eggs, Outshine fruit bars and Walmart tomato bisque. It seemed that no product was safe from a recall, but this is not an uncommon phenomenon. The U.S. Public Interest Research Group found that since 2018, there have been over 200 products recalled by the FDA every year. As of August 14, there have been 162 product recalls in 2026. Although the number of recalls is not unprecedented, the number of food-related illness cases is. In 2025, there were only 1,180 cases of Cyclospora, compared to over 17,000 cases in 2026.
Food recalls are hardly anything new, but the nationwide reach of the Cyclospora outbreak has left many Americans questioning the safety of their food. Since the beginning of 2025, almost a quarter of a million employees have been laid off across the federal government. Cuts have been made in many departments including the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the FDA and the CDC. In February 2025, a coalition of consumer, industry and public health groups sent a letter to the FDA stating that the cuts could jeopardize food supplies. One line from the letter said, “adequate resources are critical not only for outbreak response but also for developing and updating food safety standards, providing science-based industry guidance, and ensuring a well-trained federal-state inspection force to protect the integrity of our food system.”
Food safety has been an ongoing issue in the U.S. since the 1905 publication of “The Jungle”, Upton Sinclair’s book on meat packaging conditions. The globalization of the food system in the 20th century has made it much easier for food to become contaminated during processing and transport. Governmental organizations like the FDA and the USDA exist to ensure that food products are safe for consumers. There are always cases that fall through the cracks, but the recalls this summer have shown that the cracks are getting bigger.
