Each year hundreds of Americans sicken or die from foodborne illnesses such as Escherichia coli and listeria. We hear about tainted food outbreaks all the time. Nevertheless, according to Craig Hedberg, a professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, more outbreaks of foodborne illness occur than get publicized.[1] Because we all must eat to survive, ensuring the food we consume is safe should be a high priority for all stakeholders (including governments, food producers, grocers, and consumers). To bring attention to this serious subject, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) annually team up to sponsor a World Food Safety Day. This year’s theme is Food Safety: Science in Action. The organizations note, “Science is at the heart of food safety. It helps us understand what makes food unsafe and guides us on how to prevent foodborne diseases. The theme of World Food Safety Day on 7 June 2025 draws attention to the use of scientific knowledge as key to reducing illness, cutting costs and saving lives.”[1] The following video was used to introduce this year’s theme.

Food safety is a global issue — not one confined to developing countries. Aparna Nathan, a freelance science writer with a PhD in bioinformatics and genomics, reports, “In the 2000s, grocery stores felt like a microbial minefield: First there was Escherichia coli in bags of spinach, then Salmonella in peanut butter, and even Listeria in turkey. It seemed like no food was safe from foodborne pathogens. In 2008 alone, Salmonella and E. coli outbreaks spanning multiple states affected more than 1,500 people in the United States.”[2] To deal with this challenge, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) turned to science. Nathan explains:

“As consumers grew frustrated, so did the federal agencies responsible for tracking down the sources of the outbreaks. Even the state-of-the-art molecular tools of the time were no match for wily, evolving microbes. In response, the Food and Drug Administration set aside more than a million dollars with a mandate to find a better solution. This laid the foundation for what would eventually become GenomeTrakr: a network of public and academic labs using high-resolution whole-genome sequencing (WGS) technologies to detect foodborne pathogens using their DNA sequences. More than a decade later, GenomeTrakr remains the FDA’s not-so-secret weapon in fighting foodborne pathogens.”

Food journalist Lauren Manaker reports that in the United States “the total number of food recalls did not increase in 2024 compared to 2023; [however,] the number of illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths caused by recalled food did. … From cucumbers to deli meat and even eggs, last year was packed with food recalls — and 2025 is starting to look like more of the same, as staples like ground coffee and bottled water have already been recalled in recent months.”[3] Although the number of recalls may be alarming, there is also a silver lining. Journalist Eduardo Cuevas explains, “While the idea of a rise in food recalls sounds ominous, it could simply mean that health officials and food producers are better at identifying outbreaks quickly. New tools, like whole genome sequencing, allow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, alongside local officials, to genetically link outbreaks more rapidly to the microorganism causing people to get sick, said Don Schaffner, chair of the department of food science at Rutgers University.”[4]

Cuevas notes, “To keep food safe, the U.S. relies on a patchwork system to regulate food. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Services handles meat and poultry, while the FDA is responsible for nearly everything else, including recalls. In the event of outbreaks, the CDC works with local health departments to investigate outbreaks.” There are growing concerns about how well the government will be able to deal with food safety issues in the future. One of the FDA’s divisions which monitors food safety, the Human Foods Program, suffered the loss of estimated 89 staff members as a result of the efforts of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. The purge resulted in the resignation of the deputy commissioner for human foods.

Journalist Coral Beach reports that another blow to food safety in the United States occurred when the Trump Administration eliminated two USDA food safety advisory committees that have been in place for decades. She reports, “The U.S. Department of Agriculture notified committee members of the move on March 6. The committees are the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) and the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI).”[5] Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports, told Beach, “The termination of these two important advisory committees is very alarming and should serve as a warning to consumers that food safety will not be a priority at USDA in the foreseeable future. These expert panels provide impartial scientific advice and recommendations to USDA, FDA and the CDC on public health issues related to food safety in the U.S. The failure to recognize and leverage the value of this scientific expertise is dangerous and irresponsible.”

Even before these latest moves, the public was skeptical of the government’s efforts to keep the U.S. food supply safe. Correspondents Bill Chappell and Allison Aubrey report, “A Gallup poll in July [2024] found Americans’ confidence in the government to ensure a safe U.S. food supply had sunk to a record low. ‘While 57% express at least a fair amount of confidence in the government to keep food safe,’ the organization said, ‘28% of Americans do not have much confidence and 14% have “none at all”.’”[6]

The focus on science during this year’s celebration of World Food Safety Day is timely. Science and scientific research is suffering from unprecedented attacks — and the world will suffer as a result. The staff at International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) notes, “World Food Safety Day aims to draw attention and inspire action to help prevent, detect, and manage foodborne risks, contributing to food security, human health, economic prosperity, agriculture, market access, tourism, and sustainable development. This Day is an opportunity to strengthen efforts to ensure that the food we eat is safe, mainstream food safety in the public agenda, and reduce the burden of foodborne diseases globally.”[7]

Footnotes

[1] Staff, “World Food Safety Day,” World Health Organization.

[2] Aparna Nathan, “A Critical FDA Program Has Helped Solve Thousands of Foodborne Outbreaks,” The Scientist, 10 March 2025.

[3] Lauren Manaker, “Hospitalizations and Deaths From Contaminated Food Doubled in 2024 — Here’s Everything You Need to Know,” Food & Wine, 10 April 2025.

[4] Eduardo Cuevas, “Food recalls galore: Does America have a worsening food safety problem?” USA Today, 23 November 2024.

[5] Coral Beach, “President Trump eliminates two key food safety committees,” Food Safety News, 7 March 2025.

[6] Bill Chappell and Allison Aubrey, “Yes, the number of food recalls has been rising. Here's what you need to know,” WGBH, 9 December 2024.

[7] Staff, “World Food Safety Day 2025,” IISD SDG Knowledge Hub.