Safe to Eat? American Food Safety · Episode 8 of 8 · 20 min
How Do We Do Better?
By 2011 America had its most ambitious food law in seventy years, shifting from cleanup to prevention. Yet in 2024 a listeria outbreak in deli meat killed ten people and a fast-food onion outbreak sickened a hundred more, as deaths and hospitalizations doubled while recalls fell. The finale lays out a concrete menu of reforms.
Who's who
- Jim JonesFirst FDA Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods; resigned in February 2025
Timeline
- January 4, 2011Food Safety Modernization Act signed
- February 2022Abbott infant-formula crisis exposes dysfunction in the FDA food program
- 2024Boar's Head listeria outbreak kills 10; fast-food onion E. coli outbreak kills 1
- October 2024FDA's unified Human Foods Program takes effect
- January 15, 2025FDA revokes authorization for Red No. 3 under the Delaney Clause
- March 27, 2025HHS announces large workforce reductions at the FDA and CDC
Still debated
The effect of the 2025 staffing cuts on front-line inspection is contested and still changing. One deadly year driven by a few outbreaks does not prove a long-term rise, and the synthetic-dye phase-out is voluntary rather than a ban.