U.S Food Bourne Illnesses More Than Doubled in 2024 According to report

Ace Food Desk – Illnesses and deaths from food outbreaks skyrocketed in 2024, report finds

According to a report published Thursday, hospitalisations and deaths from foodborne illnesses more than doubled in 2024 over the prior year, with most people sickened in a small number of high-profile outbreaks involving lunch meat, eggs, cucumbers and other commonly consumed foods.

The report emerges amidst discussions among confident US lawmakers regarding the potential prohibition of the US from enacting a regulatory framework to mitigate salmonella contamination in raw poultry. This framework was proposed during the administration of former President Joe Biden.

In 2024, 1,392 individuals were reported to have fallen ill due to contaminated food, which increased from 1,118 cases in 2023. The severity of health impacts from these outbreaks also rose significantly, with 487 hospitalisations in 2024 compared to 230 in the prior year. Tragically, there were 19 fatalities resulting from food in 2024, compared to eight deaths reported in 2023, as noted in the recent report.

In 2024, there were a total of 13 notable outbreaks primarily attributed to E. coli, Listeria, and Salmonella bacteria. One significant E. coli outbreak was linked to contaminated onions used in McDonald’s Quarter Pounder burgers. Additionally, a serious incident led to 60 individuals requiring hospitalisation and was traced back to a now-closed Boar’s Head facility in Virginia. Moreover, the year saw a significant increase in food recalls related to Listeria, Salmonella, or E. coli, which accounted for 39% of all recalls.

“This report serves as an important reminder that there cannot be any cuts to food safety funding or rollbacks in regulations,” said Brian Ronholm, the director of food policy for the nonprofit Consumer Reports who was not involved in the study. “Industry, regulators and consumers must be constantly vigilant about food safety and the data in this report shows that there is still much work to be done and improvements to be made.”

One of 2024’s worst outbreaks came from an unexpected source – edible mushroom products used for “microdosing,” a trend that involves consuming tiny quantities of psychedelic drugs to enhance mood and creativity. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) linked 180 illnesses to chocolate snacks containing mushrooms, with 73 people hospitalised and 3 deaths, according to the report.

“That’s not something that’s necessarily top of mind for most folks thinking about food safety,” said Stanton Cope, a Consumer Watchdog associate with the US PIRG Education Fund and an author of the report. “We just want to make sure people are considering everything that’s going into their bodies.”

A combination of factors may be to blame for the elevated number of illnesses in 2024, Cope said, including potentially higher concentrations of bacteria in contaminated foods and a time lag between the first illnesses of an outbreak and associated food recalls issued to alert stores and consumers.

Food recalled actions to remove foods from the market that violate the FDA’s regulations can occur when products contain harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites or foreign objects such as metal or plastic or when companies fail to add allergens such as peanuts to labels. Most of the time, the food manufacturer or distributor voluntarily initiates recalls, although the FDA sometimes mandates them.

Despite the severity of foodborne illness outbreaks last year and the increase in recalls tied to Salmonella, E. coli and Listeria, the overall number of food recalls in 2024 dropped about 5% to 296 last year.

Recalls for undeclared allergens in foods accounted for more than a third of all recalls last year, though they dropped to 101 in 2024 from 154 in 2023.

“We find that encouraging,” said Teresa Murray, consumer watchdog director at the US PIRG Education Fund and an author of the report. “Maybe food manufacturers are getting better at declaring allergens. There are only nine to keep track of. It’s not that difficult. That seems like it should be one of the easiest issues for food manufacturers.”

Neither the FDA nor USDA require companies to contact grocery stores or restaurants to inform them when a product has been recalled, although groceries often learn about recalls from their suppliers before public notices are posted by the federal agencies, according to the report. Companies are not required to notify consumers about recalls.

“We recounted many cases from last year where it was weeks and sometimes months after a recall, and people were still getting sick,” said Murray. “I don’t think that they knew.”

“In some cases, we would like to see the FDA and the [US Department of Agriculture] to do a little bit more to pressure all of the stakeholders to do a better job of communicating to the public,” she added. “We would like to see stores become more active and consumers pay more attention.”

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