The record-breaking cyclospora outbreak over the summer and subsequent food recalls have prompted Democrats to slam Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., blaming the Cabinet official’s leadership on what they call a lapse in food safety.
asserted
they → break → safety
Experts in food safety, however, argue that pathogen outbreaks and food recalls are not exactly a blame game, as ensuring that what consumers put on their plates is safe to eat involves multiple actors across federal and state governments, as well as the manufacturing and distribution sectors.
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put → argue → governments
Additionally, a social media account called Fact Post News, a rapid-response digital initiative launched directly by the Democratic National Committee, posts every food that has been recalled.
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that → call → food
Each image of the food recalled is paired with a photo of Kennedy filtered to appear similar to the product.
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image → recall → product
Democrats, including Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), wrote to Kennedy in July demanding answers about the “foolish and self-indulgent demolition” of the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, which has historically tracked cyclospora.
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which → include → cyclospora
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who is also viewed as a possible 2028 Democratic presidential contender, framed the outbreaks and other recalls boosted by his party as a referendum on the Trump administration.
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who → view → administration
“Every morning there’s some new frustration at home connected to some new outrage coming out of Washington,” Buttigieg said at a campaign event.
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Buttigieg → ’ → event
“You check the news, and there is another kind of food that you have to think twice about getting in case it’s not safe to eat, which might have something to do with how they cut the food safety inspectors at the [Food and Drug Administration] and the Department of Agriculture.”
uncertain
they → check → Agriculture
The Department of Health and Human Services, however, in a statement to the Washington Examiner, championed the administration’s response to foodborne illness outbreaks and disputed the idea that scaling back personnel hindered investigations.
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scaling → champion → investigations
“Politicizing foodborne illness outbreaks and recalls is irresponsible and undermines the work of public health officials protecting Americans every day,” an HHS spokesperson said.
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spokesperson → politicize → Americans
“The Trump Administration has mounted a robust response to each outbreak, including the recently concluded Cyclospora outbreak, working closely with health departments in all 50 states to promptly identify known sources and provide Americans with the information they need to protect themselves.
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they → mount → themselves
“FDA continues to have the staff required for outbreak investigations — no FDA investigators were affected by staffing changes or reductions in force.
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investigators → continue → force
The CDC laboratory supporting foodborne outbreak investigations was not impacted by reductions in force, and the agency maintains a dedicated team investigating foodborne outbreaks and working closely with state and local health departments.”
Foodborne outbreaks are difficult to trace
Foodborne illness outbreaks are hardly unusual in the United States, even if the scale of this summer’s cyclospora outbreak was.
Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician and senior scholar at Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security, said the country sees “dozens and dozens” of foodborne illness outbreaks each year involving pathogens such as E. coli, salmonella, and cyclospora.
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country → support → coli
“We’ve had multiple outbreaks,” Adalja said.
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Adalja → have → outbreaks
“That happens every year.
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That → happen → ?
It’s just that the size and scope of the cyclospora outbreak was unprecedented, which put a lot of … interest into foodborne illnesses generally.”
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which → ’ → illnesses
Finding the source of an outbreak, however, is considerably more complicated than identifying that people are getting sick, Adalja said.
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Adalja → find → outbreak
Investigators first have to recognize and diagnose the illness, a process that can itself create delays because some pathogens are not included in routine testing.
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pathogens → have → testing
Public health officials then begin what Adalja described as “shoe leather epidemiology”: interviewing patients about where and what they ate, looking for commonalities and tracing potentially contaminated food backward through an often sprawling supply chain.
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they → begin → chain
“That can be very hard because if I ask you, ‘What did you have last Thursday for dinner?’ you’re probably not going to remember,” Adalja said.
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Adalja → ask → dinner
Once investigators identify a possible common food, they must determine where it came from and where other products from the same supplier were sent.
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products → identify → supplier
“You’re tracing it all back to try and understand where the origin might be to find where the point of contamination might have occurred,” Adalja said.
uncertain
Adalja → trace → contamination
The size of the cyclospora outbreak made that work especially difficult.
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work → make → outbreak
But Adalja said resources matter, arguing that a better-staffed public health system can work through those steps more quickly.
“Yes, any food board investigation is going to be arduous, but the more hands on deck you have, the more you can assist states to do this work,” he said.
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he → say → work
That distinction complicates attempts to assign the outbreak entirely to the Trump administration’s personnel and surveillance changes or the inherent difficulty of investigating foodborne illness.
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distinction → complicate → illness
Dr. David Acheson, a former FDA associate commissioner for foods who now leads the food safety consulting firm The Acheson Group, offered a different assessment of one criticism aimed at the administration.
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who → lead → administration
Acheson said the removal of cyclospora from FoodNet would not have prevented or substantially accelerated the identification of this particular outbreak.
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removal → say → outbreak
NINETEEN STATES HAVE APPROVED PERMANENT DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME.
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STATES → approve → TIME
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR THE CLOCKS THIS YEAR?
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THAT → mean → CLOCKS
Instead, Acheson said its sheer size overwhelmed a public health system that has long faced resource constraints across federal, state, and local governments.
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that → say → governments
“You’ve got 15,000 sick people, and every one of them you’ve got to call, ‘Where did you eat?
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you → get → them
What did you eat?’”
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you → eat → What
Acheson said.
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Acheson → say → ?
“They couldn’t do it.
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They → do → it
Recalls are a routine part of the food safety system
The heightened attention surrounding the cyclospora outbreak has also put a spotlight on another, related system: recalls.
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attention → heighten → system
But a recall does not necessarily mean anyone has gotten sick, and Acheson said the sheer number of recalls is not, on its own, a measure of whether the food supply has become less safe.
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supply → mean → own
“Recalls happen every single day of the week,” Acheson said.
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Acheson → happen → week
Some recalls follow an outbreak after investigators identify a contaminated product.
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investigators → follow → product
Others occur before a single illness is reported, when a manufacturer discovers a possible problem and pulls the product from shelves as a precaution.
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manufacturer → occur → precaution
In those cases, Acheson said, a recall should be understood as a preventive action rather than evidence that the regulatory system has failed.
“A recall is actually a preventive tool,” he said.
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he → say → action
…and 14 more, not listed.
The Aporia
