Author: Kit Redwine

In a gleaming kitchen deep within a cruise ship, a chef checks a digital thermometer. The reading for a dairy dessert shows 56 degrees Fahrenheit, well above the safe threshold. In a storage room, a water purification system drains directly into a tank of gray waste water. On a pool deck, six guests crowd into a whirlpool built for four. Each of these incidents, observed on different ships during recent surprise health inspections, represents a small crack in a complex fortress of food and water safety. They are individual data points in a massive, ongoing effort to protect tens of…

In a world dominated by the steady hum of the refrigerator, a quiet counter-revolution is taking place in kitchens, farms, and food labs. It is a return to methods older than recorded history: the bubbling crock of fermenting vegetables, the salt-rubbed ham aging in a cool cellar, the fragrant smoke curling around strips of drying meat. For millennia, techniques like fermentation, curing, smoking, and drying were not culinary trends but essential acts of survival, allowing our ancestors to store nutrients beyond a harvest or a hunt. Today, as we grapple with food waste, energy consumption, and a desire for sustainable,…

In a nondescript federal building, and in health departments across the country, multiple investigations are always underway. Its subject is not a criminal syndicate, but something that strikes a more intimate and universal fear: contaminated food in our kitchens. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) CORE Response Teams are the detectives in these cases, managing a rotating roster of outbreaks linked to pathogens like Salmonella, Listeria, and E. coli. A single page on the FDA’s website, updated weekly, serves as the public ledger for this ongoing work, listing outbreaks in various stages of resolution. As of mid-October 2025, this list reveals a continuous cycle of…

Every day, a precarious relay race takes place to deliver the fresh food on our tables. From the moment a head of lettuce is cut or a salmon is fileted, it enters a delicate life-support system known as the cold chain: a synchronized network of refrigerated trucks, warehouses, and display cases designed to keep food within a narrow, safe temperature range. When this chain holds, we enjoy crisp produce and safe meals. When a single link fails, the consequences are far more severe than a spoiled dinner. Breaches in the cold chain are a leading, yet often invisible, contributor to…

The enjoyment of cheese, a culinary staple for centuries, is shadowed by a persistent microscopic threat. Recent recalls of soft cheeses, including a major Class I recall of Camembert and other soft cheeses in September 2025, have highlighted ongoing public health concerns about Listeria monocytogenes. This pathogen poses a particular danger to vulnerable populations and has been repeatedly linked to cheeses that are often central to cultural traditions and artisanal food movements. The challenge lies in balancing the appreciation for traditional cheese-making, especially with raw milk, with the implementation of rigorous scientific controls to mitigate a known and deadly risk.…

A series of multistate foodborne illness outbreaks stretching into late 2025 has sickened hundreds of people across the United States, leading to hospitalizations, deaths, and widespread product recalls. Federal and state health agencies are actively managing investigations involving a range of pathogens, from the familiar threats of Salmonella and E. coli to the persistent danger of Listeria, which has proven particularly deadly in a recent outbreak linked to prepared pasta meals. These concurrent incidents highlight the ongoing vulnerabilities in a complex food supply chain, even as investigative technologies become more sophisticated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the…

In the ongoing battle to ensure food safety, government agencies continuously adapt their strategies to combat pervasive pathogens like Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria. The evolution of these regulations reflects a complex journey from reactive outbreaks responses to proactive, science-based prevention, driven by advancing technology and a deepening understanding of microbial threats. The current landscape is marked by sophisticated surveillance, targeted enforcement, and new scientific discoveries that reveal how these pathogens evade the body’s defenses. The Scientific Underpinnings of the Threat The relentless pursuit of food safety is driven by the significant public health burden imposed by pathogenic bacteria. Among…

For decades, public health officials and clinicians primarily hunted for one notorious pathogen: E. coli O157. Its unique biochemical characteristics made it relatively easy to identify in laboratories, and its association with severe, sometimes fatal, foodborne illness was well-established. This focus, however, created a blind spot. Lurking in the shadows were hundreds of other E. coli serotypes capable of producing the same dangerous Shiga toxins, a diverse family of pathogens now known as non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC). Thanks to a revolution in diagnostic technology, the true scale of this hidden threat is finally coming into focus, revealing a…

The Outbreak at a Glance Federal health officials are investigating a significant multistate outbreak of infant botulism linked to a powdered infant formula. The situation is dynamic, with case counts rising as the investigation progresses. The following table outlines the states where cases have been reported as of November 19, 2025: StateArizonaMichiganRhode IslandCaliforniaMinnesotaTexasIdahoNorth CarolinaWashingtonIllinoisNew JerseyKentuckyOregonMainePennsylvania Investigation Timeline and Key Findings The investigation, a collaborative effort between the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), and the Infant Botulism Treatment and Prevention Program (IBTPP), has evolved rapidly,…

In the wake of a 2025 multistate outbreak linked to prepared pasta meals that resulted in dozens of hospitalizations and multiple deaths, a complex question confronts food safety regulators, manufacturers, and consumers: what is the acceptable amount of a deadly pathogen in food? The investigation, which traced Listeria monocytogenes contamination to pre-cooked pasta from a single supplier, triggered a cascade of recalls affecting products from major national retailers including Trader Joe’s, Kroger, and Albertsons. As of late October 2025, this outbreak had sickened 27 people across 18 states, led to 25 hospitalizations, caused six confirmed deaths, and resulted in one…