More people in the United States got sick from contaminated food in 2024 than the year before, and the number of people who were hospitalized or died doubled, according to U.S. PIRG Education Fund’s new report, Food for Thought 2025.
Of the people who were sickened by food in 2024, 98 percent of their illnesses came from just 13 outbreaks. This fact shows the consequences of companies producing or selling contaminated food. All but one of the outbreaks involved Listeria, Salmonella or E. coli, according to research done by PIRG.
“This indicates that some companies just aren’t doing enough to keep bacteria from contaminating our food,” said Teresa Murray, Consumer Watchdog Director for U.S. PIRG Education Fund and co-author of Food For Thought 2025. “And, when contamination does happen, companies often don’t conduct proper testing to catch it before it makes us sick.”
The statistics gathered by PIRG support the recurrent message that a lot of food was unsafe in 2024. Several high-profile recalls, from Boar’s Head deli meats to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders, punctuated the headlines.
Meat and poultry recalls through the U.S. Department of Agriculture declined, while recalls by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of everything else from produce to snacks increased.
Other key findings in the PIRG report:
• More than 500 people were hospitalized or died in 2024 from contaminated food, up from about 240 in 2023.
• The number of recalls because of Listeria, Salmonella or E. coli increased significantly and comprised 39 percent of all recalls.
• One-third of recalls in 2024 stemmed from undeclared allergens or other ingredients that can make people sick.
• Recalls of pet food increased, from seven in 2023 to 11 in 2024.
“Once again, everything from soup to nuts threatened our health in 2024,” Murray said. “If food producers and packagers just focused more on being sanitary and labeling packages for allergens, our food would be so much safer.”
Clearly a perfect time to gut FDA, FSIS and CDC?