It's still true that food in the US is, by and large, safer than many other countries as far as foodborne illness. A lot of the perceived lack of safety is a lack of trust in the agencies that are supposed to handle regulation, testing, recalls, etc. It's also a question of severity; both how severe the issue is, and how many people are affected. We've had multiple unusually-severe and unusually-widespread outbreaks in 2026, and that led to a lot more public awareness. The Taylor Farms Cyclospora outbreak, for example, was easily one of the most severe food safety events in US history.

Due to massive government staffing cuts and mass resignations, the inspectors responsible for testing for safety are hugely understaffed and overworked. They were already understaffed, but recent cuts made things much worse. A fairly average number of issues are being reported officially, but it's almost certain that many issues simply aren't found, or they're found but not properly investigated. Susan Mayne, the former director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (the branch of the FDA that tests and reports on food safety issues) found that the FDA is posting incorrect data to make it appear as though food safety issues are less severe this year. (edit note: I originally wrote that Mayne endorsed the interpretation that 2026 numbers are being underreported because of staffing issues, but on closer read that interpretation was from the public health advocate Sarah Despres, not former director Mayne).