The rise of cyclospora outbreaks has raised concerns among food safety leaders in the U.S. about the potential for more severe foodborne illness outbreaks due to federal funding cuts.
Food safety leaders across the United States are expressing alarm over the potential for a worsening foodborne illness outbreak. Their concerns stem from federal funding cuts that have made it increasingly difficult to detect and control the spread of foodborne pathogens, including the recent surge of cyclospora infections that have affected thousands in multiple states. Experts warn that the next pathogen could be even more dangerous.
The U.S. food safety system operates through a fragmented network of state and federal agencies responsible for identifying, investigating, and managing outbreaks of foodborne illnesses. A critical component of this system is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) FoodNet program, established in the early 1990s following a tragic incident where four children died from E. coli in contaminated hamburgers. FoodNet, officially known as the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, enables participating states to collect and report case data from laboratories, which helps identify emerging problems.
However, during President Donald Trump’s administration, significant cuts were made to public health funding, resulting in the loss of thousands of jobs at federal health agencies. These budget reductions have also led to the suspension of mandatory tracking for cyclospora and five other pathogens under the FoodNet program, which collectively account for hundreds of deaths in the U.S. each year.
“You’re basically allowing for outbreaks to continue without being figured out. Inevitably, more people will get sick,” stated Bill Marler, a food safety lawyer from the Seattle area who has represented clients alleging illness from cyclospora after consuming food at Taco Bell.
Under the revised FoodNet surveillance system, the ten participating states, which are intended to represent a cross-section of the population, are no longer required to report cases of listeria. This bacterium has a mortality rate of up to 30% among those diagnosed, and complications from listeria infections can lead to severe health issues, including convulsions, miscarriage, and organ damage. Although listeria infections are less common than E. coli, nearly 95% of those infected require hospitalization, resulting in an estimated 170 to 260 deaths annually, according to the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Neal Fortin, director of the Institute of Food Laws and Regulations at Michigan State University, expressed his concerns about the removal of listeria from FoodNet’s mandatory surveillance. “It’s very hard to identify listeria outbreaks. Seeing it cut from FoodNet’s mandatory surveillance really does disturb me,” he said.
In 2011, a listeria outbreak linked to contaminated cantaloupe resulted in 33 deaths and a miscarriage. The FDA was able to identify the source of the outbreak in less than two weeks.
Additionally, states participating in FoodNet are no longer required to report illnesses caused by Campylobacter, a bacterium frequently associated with raw and undercooked poultry that affects an estimated 1.5 million people annually. This year, about 60 individuals in Idaho were sickened in an outbreak connected to raw milk—a product that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has advocated for, despite the fact that pasteurization effectively eliminates harmful bacteria.
Despite these concerns, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) maintains that the changes to FoodNet and staffing reductions during the Trump administration have not increased the risk of future outbreaks being harder to identify and control. HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard stated via email, “FDA investigators were not affected by staffing changes or force reductions, and the FY 2027 President’s Budget proposes a $33 million increase for food safety activities.” She also noted that the CDC has continued to monitor illnesses caused by cyclospora.
While the CDC employs other passive surveillance systems, these rely on states to report issues, and there is no set timeline for how quickly states must do so. Barbara Kowalcyk, director of the Institute for Food Safety and Nutrition Security at George Washington University, highlighted this concern, stating, “There’s no requirement of how long it takes them to do that.”
Moreover, the FDA has consistently failed to meet the number of inspections mandated by Congress. According to a report released early last year by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the FDA has not met its inspection targets for both domestic and foreign facilities since 2018. The number of food safety inspections conducted by the FDA dropped from 10,641 facilities in 2011 to approximately 4,500 a decade later. In 2024, the agency had only 432 investigators available for inspections, a situation exacerbated by the Trump administration’s decision to cut 3,500 jobs at the FDA in an effort to reduce federal spending.
Food safety advocates warn that the situation may worsen as the Trump administration seeks to shift more routine food inspections to state agencies while further reducing the number of federal personnel responsible for investigations and inspections.
State health departments are already feeling the strain from federal funding cuts and staffing shortages, leading some to reduce or suspend prevention programs to focus on more immediate concerns. Michigan, for instance, has reported over 7,000 cases of cyclosporiasis, the highest number in the country. The cyclospora parasite can cause prolonged diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea, and fatigue.
In Washtenaw County, Michigan, the local health department has redirected staff from other responsibilities, such as immunizations and sexual health programs, to address a recent measles outbreak that sickened seven individuals, including five children. These same nurses are now spending considerable time tracing the source of cyclosporiasis cases, often relying on weeks-old takeout receipts and bank statements.
“We are starting to see the consequences of an underfunded public health system in 2026,” remarked Natasha Bagdasarian, Michigan’s chief medical executive. “Currently, it’s cyclospora. Eventually, we are going to lose the ability to detect something else.”
According to KFF Health News, the current state of food safety in the U.S. raises significant concerns about the future of public health and the ability to manage foodborne illness outbreaks effectively.