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@zackzwiezen.com re: our discussion yesterday!

Food recalls in the past were more preventative; now they're more like damage control on a torpedoed submarine.

We all know how the #TrumpRegime will spin this: "We are the only ones who honestly report food outbreaks. Dismantle the CDC and FDA."

So is the fact we're having fewer food recalls a bad thing? What is your thinking on what this all means?

What if those staffers who were providing inspections, testing, and surveillance to regulators were part of the staffing cuts, Dolores?!?🤨

So this means someone is not there to pull the trigger to call out the recall. Understaffed or they just don't care to say anything as to not shakeup the economy, and its capitalist corporations.

Well, if you've sacked a lot of investigators who could identify sources, then you can't recall products you don't know are contaminated. On top of that, the high-level bosses are against regulatory interventions. Result: no recalls; wide-spread illness.

Compared to previous years, is there a difference in the time from illness reporting to recall that could account for the larger number of cases?

Okay but if the number of inspectors has been slashed, wouldn’t the number of recalls be lessened? If we fired a lot of cops, I would expect traffic citations to drop too.

Does more illness relate causally to more contamination which is being under-recalled?

Make America Hurl Alot

The reasonable interpretation is that there should be MORE food recalls, if food-related illnesses are on the rise. So... Who isn't doing their job? I think we know.

Goes back to having monopolies in our food production and processing systems.

Right? The fact that the recalls have not caught up with illness is criminal.

Its not that surprising. Trump will let his donors poison us and when the press is finally so bad that they need to pretend to take action, Republicans let the poisoners do an incomplete recall that leaves a lot of tainted food on the market.

I feel like it's not the number, it's the scale and the severity at which it has to happen before they issue a recall

Considering that DOGE cuts reduced inspection personnel at borders and domestically, one possible takeaway is that the reduction in recalls is leading to more impactful recall-worthy events. Like a smoke alarm that starts beeping after some of the structure has burned to ash.

God bless both of y’all! That’s terrifying! I’m glad she’s recovering!

She's still really weak, but hanging in there. She knows how close she came to not making it. She's elderly now, but wants to stick around awhile longer. I've impressed upon my hubby and kiddo we need to cook everything to death just in case. It won't get better :(

My dad got sepsis from e.Coli in July and almost died - it’s VERY common. Watch out for the blueberries, jalapeños, sprouts… list keeps growing

AIDS-defining illnesses are on the rise

COVID is really hard on the gut. We've know this for years.

I had long covid in 2021 and now every small illness hits me harder. A fluor something that might have been a 3 day illness for me before is now a 5 or 6 day illness.

Well, looky here - who was President 2017 - 2020? And 2026 ain't over yet!!!

Is it truly surprising, or is it an expected result of the complete indifference of this administration to product (and specifically food) safety?

it's only the 8th month of the year, does this chart compare full years to a part of a year? A lot of recalls are voluntary, by the manufacturer, to avoid further penalty / problem. If you don't fear the government catching it or creating a penalty, you might not issue the recall to begin with?

So what’s different is FEWER WARNINGS

I looked this up too - I hate that we live in a world we always have to research everything we are told, incidents of contamination doubled from 2023-24 and have continued rising every year.

We are seeing more of these incidents because of the failure of the government to adequately protect the food supply. And the cutting of the inspectors for both the FDA and the CDC hasn’t helped the situation at all.

My ex wife did side work calling food distributors when there was a recall and we were shocked at how often they happened, and this was back in 2018. Most people just never knew, which seems like it's a problem. People are just noticing recalls more now which I hope will continue!

Welp. I would argue that with the absolutely gutted resources at the FDA, the data is actually skewed. Also, the corruption in this administration to protect big donors such as Taylor Farms. And finally the data itself could be compromised to protect administration image.

And to be clear, more undetected outbreaks wouldn't contribute to our feeling that there's a million recalls this year. Because they would be undetected.

Recalls protect people and are better than the alternative.

Can’t recall what you don’t test.

Does the graph show full years except for 2026? If so, there is still time to see more recalls. Also, notice how consistent they were under Biden. Like there was a process in place.

Are they recalling them too late? Id the threshold for recall higher? Or are people more sensitive to foodborne illness than they were 10 years ago?

That suggests to me a loss of early detection, management, and control functions. Similar rate, but larger impact. A failure toward public health of the current Republican adminstration and their hostility to regulation and inspection.

sounds like maybe there *should* be more recalls? If there was enough tracking to find the problems.

Why is good being contaminated

Also, a higher number of recalls might not indicate more contaminated products. It could mean more enforcement or more company testing of the same universe of bad products. It’s hard to fully understand what is happening with the information that’s available.

I would imagine food recalls imply a governing body overseeing the industry. Bacteria, of course, don't care

It's as though less people inspecting food and deregulation are a systemic problem. Tearing apart an agency like the FDA and having a wack-job like RFK Jr. as Sec for HHS has consequences.

Mmm, so similar numbers of outbreaks, they just get caught later and make more people sick?

feels like a much higher percentage of recalls initiated only after harm has been caused yeah, which has some real implications as to what is happening behind the scenes

Yep! And the cyclospora outbreak is what's driving the recall news. THAT is entirely on the government for breaking CDC tracking.

Poor labor conditions too.

Has anyone asked Emily Imposter for a follow up to her NYT piece?

Doesn’t surprise me

The body adapts. The first time you get cyclospora is a shock alright. But after the 4th or 5th time it is not so bad.

They aren't checking. So there are going to be fewer recalls

2026 isn't over tho, of course theres less recalls...

This is what happens when a president allows an unelected billionaire to have agency over the process of determining what should be cut. The American people are still paying the price for that poor decision.

That's an understandable conclusion to draw. Profit Vs risk. The food industry' bad actors need a few class actions to regain their focus.

Maybe food recalls is the wrong indicator. That would reflect active regulation, which we do not have due to gutted agencies. If no one is watching the food manufacturers they would now know what to recall.