Author: Kit Redwine

The past two years have seen a series of significant foodborne illness outbreaks across the United States and Europe, involving everything from ready-to-eat pasta meals and raw cheese to fresh produce and oysters. These outbreaks were driven by pathogens including Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella, E. coli O157:H7, hepatitis A virus, and Vibrio vulnificus and have resulted in hospitalizations, deaths, and major product recalls. The following summary examines the major outbreaks of 2025 and early 2026, their causes, and their outcomes. Listeria in Prepared Pasta Meals The most severe outbreak of 2025 involved Listeria monocytogenes contamination of prepared pasta meals sold at…

Foodborne illness in the United States is most frequently associated with familiar names: Salmonella, Escherichia coli, and Listeria monocytogenes. These pathogens dominate public health messaging, outbreak headlines, and consumer awareness campaigns. Yet the landscape of foodborne disease is considerably broader. Several other pathogens cause substantial illness, hospitalization, and long-term complications, yet remain comparatively obscure to the general public. Understanding these lesser-known threats is essential for comprehensive food safety. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tracks foodborne illness through multiple surveillance systems. While Campylobacter and Salmonella consistently rank as the top causes of gastrointestinal infections monitored by FoodNet, other…

A bag of frozen strawberries sits in a home freezer, destined for a breakfast smoothie. Organic. Convenient. Safe. Or are they? Between 2022 and 2025, a transformation occurred in the world of foodborne illness surveillance. Hepatitis A incidents linked to frozen berries surged by a factor of 39 (SGS Digicomply, November 2025) with incident mentions rising from a baseline of sporadic reports before 2022 to levels more than 30 times higher through 2024 and into 2025. What was once a footnote in outbreak logs has become one of the most persistent and perplexing food safety challenges facing regulators, industry, and…

Wanted to make sure you saw this! On Sat, Apr 11, 2026 at 12:46 PM Kit Redwine <[email protected]> wrote: Bagged salads have become a dietary staple for convenience-seeking consumers. Yet this modern food product carries a microbial risk that public health agencies have struggled to manage over the past decade. Between 2015 and 2024, health authorities in the United States identified eight distinct listeriosis outbreaks connected to packaged salad products, leading the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to initiate recalls for roughly 240 such items due to possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], Emerging…

For decades, obstetricians and public health agencies have provided pregnant women with a standard list of foods to avoid: soft cheeses, deli meats, raw seafood, and unpasteurized dairy products. This guidance has undoubtedly prevented countless cases of listeriosis and other foodborne illnesses. However, the food supply has evolved substantially, and so has the epidemiology of foodborne pathogens. Recent outbreaks have implicated foods that fall entirely outside the traditional high-risk categories, exposing gaps in both consumer awareness and regulatory oversight. Pregnant women remain approximately ten times more likely than the general population to contract listeriosis (FDA, January 2026) and when Listeria…

Easter ranks among the most significant food-centered holidays in the United States, bringing families together around elaborate meals, decorated eggs, and festive gatherings that often extend throughout the day. Yet the very traditions that make the holiday special such as prolonged buffets, outdoor egg hunts, and dishes prepared hours before serving can also create conditions where foodborne bacteria can thrive. With approximately 48 million Americans experiencing foodborne illness annually and 3,000 dying (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, March 2026) from complications, understanding how to celebrate safely is essential for protecting families and guests, particularly those most vulnerable to…

For decades, public health messaging about Listeria monocytogenes has focused on a familiar set of high-risk foods: deli meats, hot dogs, soft cheeses made from unpasteurized milk, and smoked seafood. While these remain important vehicles for infection, a growing body of outbreak investigations reveals that Listeria can contaminate a far broader range of foods than consumers, and sometimes regulators, anticipate. From refrigerated pasta meals to enoki mushrooms and even ice cream, the pathogen’s ability to survive and grow at refrigeration temperatures makes it a persistent threat across the cold food supply chain. Understanding these unexpected sources is essential for protecting…

For over a century, pasteurization has stood as one of the most effective public health interventions in modern history. The process of heating milk to destroy pathogenic bacteria dramatically reduced the incidence of milk-borne diseases including typhoid fever, tuberculosis, and brucellosis, saving countless lives. Pasteurization has been recognized as one of the most effective public health interventions of the last century, dramatically reducing illnesses caused by contaminated milk (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, January 2025). Yet despite this established track record, a persistent and passionate movement advocates for the consumption of raw, unpasteurized milk and its derivatives. These…

The Hass avocado has become a staple of the American diet, consumed in growing quantities year-round as guacamole, sliced on toast, or incorporated into countless recipes. What many consumers do not consider is the complex journey this fruit undertakes before reaching their kitchens. Approximately 90 percent of Hass avocados consumed in the United States are grown and packed in Mexico, primarily in the state of Michoacán, the only region in the world with year-round avocado production. This reliance on a single foreign source for a perishable commodity creates a supply chain of extraordinary complexity, one that must function seamlessly to…

Illness linked to contaminated food – with pathogens like parasites, salmonella, e. coli or chemicals – is more pronounced in poorer communities. Foodborne disease is often framed as a universal risk: a potential consequence of a meal eaten anywhere, by anyone. While it is true that no individual is entirely immune, the burden of foodborne illness is not distributed equally across populations. Epidemiological data consistently demonstrate that certain groups face dramatically elevated risks of infection, severe outcomes, and death. These vulnerable populations include young children, pregnant women, older adults, immunocompromised individuals, and those living in poverty or conflict-affected regions. Understanding…