Food Safety News

As part of its enforcement activities, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration sends warning letters to entities under its jurisdiction. Some letters are not posted for public view until weeks or months after they are sent. Business owners have 15 days to respond to FDA warning letters. Warning letters often are not issued until a company has been given months or years to correct problems. Generally, portions of the letters are redacted from public view.

The FDA has issued a warning letter to Ocean Group Inc. following inspections of four seafood processing facilities in California, Nevada, and Texas, where investigators identified persistent Listeria monocytogenes contamination, sanitation breakdowns, and seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) violations.

A review of food safety culture surveys has revealed significant diversity and notable gaps in validation practices.

Scientists said the reliable measurement of food safety culture is crucial to identify the strengths and weaknesses of companies in food safety performance, enabling them to aim for continuous improvement.

Officials from various food agencies met in New Zealand recently to discuss topics related to the area of risk communication.

The seventh meeting of the International Heads of Food Agencies Forum (IHFAF) was held in Auckland earlier this month.

Quick bites from the food safety arena this week

1. A Salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than 30 people in Finland is under investigation. The cause may be related to consumption of uncooked sprouts.
2. In the United States, Ayco Farms recalled more than 8,000 cartons of whole cantaloupes due to potential Salmonella contamination. No illnesses have yet been reported from consumption of the melons, which were sold in Florida, New York, Pennsylvania and California.
3. Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign are studying the effects of nanoplastics on Salmonella. Nanoplastics are formed when microplastics found in storage materials like polystyrene break down. Initial findings indicate that Salmonella becomes more virulent when exposed to nanoplastics. The bacteria can also become more persistent in the environment after such exposure.
4. The produce industry is sounding the alarm on cost pressures resulting from conflict in the Middle East.FreshFruitPortal.com points to near-term cost pressure from rising diesel prices and longer-term implications of more expensive fertilizer, both driven by the disruptions in shipping goods out of the Persian Gulf. Producers are now making planting decisions based on these factors that will have ripple effects across the global economy for some time.
5. A Swedish study of how salmon behave after ingesting cocaine sheds light on a growing threat to fish populations. Both illegal and prescription drugs are being detected more frequently in fish populations with implications for the health of the fish themselves as well as for humans who may consume them.

TODAY’S TOPIC: Mindy Brashears

Mindy Brashears is back as Under Secretary for Food Safety at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

“I can honestly say I am super happy to be here, and I am enjoying the job every day, but it’s not really easy every day. It’s actually difficult and a challenge,” Brashears told Food Safety News.

Late last year, on Dec. 18, the U.S. Senate confirmed the Texas Tech food microbiology scientist to serve for a second time as the federal government’s top food safety official.  She last held the job from March 23, 2020, to Jan. 20, 2021.

In a wide-ranging conversation with Food Safety News, Brashears talked about the transition that involved following her successors. 

“I’m very grateful to be able to say that in the food safety mission area, no matter who is at the helm for president or secretary, we can always say our mission is the same, and that's to provide safe food for American families,” Brashears said. “So that absolutely hasn't changed. I also agree that there's always been a data-driven, science-based approach throughout, and so we're. absolutely not starting from scratch.”

For 15 months before the Senate first confirmed her, Brashears headed the USDA food safety program as Deputy Under Secretary.

“There are things that were actually started when I was here the first time that finished this time,” she said. Product of USA, line speeds, and an updated approach to Listeria were among the policies she cited.

“How to retrain, regroup, and modernize our approaches to Listeria and ready-to-eat meats is, I think, extremely important,” Brashears added. “We are still collecting data, have finished collecting some of the initial data, and are regrouping on how to utilize that to move forward in a new way. So, that is really a seamless transition.”

After Brashears first stepped down as Under Secretary for Food Safety, it took the incoming administration 700 days to name Dr. Jose Emilio Esteban as her replacement and for Dr. Esteban to be confirmed by the Senate. During that nearly two-year vacancy, Deputy Under Secretary Sandra Eskin headed USDA food safety. 

Bringing fresh perspective to Salmonella
In April 2024, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack took the point in announcing that his Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) had finalized a policy declaring Salmonella an adulterant in raw breaded stuffed chicken products when contamination reaches one colony-forming unit (1 CFU) per gram or higher

Brashears says the Salmonella adulterant declaration is not being enforced by FSIS because it cannot be accurately measured at this time. Her focus remains on Salmonella, just with a different approach.

“Their focus was on one single product in one industry, adulterant status in raw breaded and stuffed chicken breast, and really focusing only on the poultry segment of the industry,” Brashears said. “My approach is, we're going to be broader.” 

The Under Secretary for Food Safety says, “we have to expand our lens outside of poultry” to include both pork and beef, as both are also major sources of Salmonella illnesses.

“With Salmonella, we need to push the bar higher to make sure we get to the Salmonella that are actually causing the illness, and that's where we are going to move the bar in terms of public health metrics,” she said.

As for whether Salmonella should be declared an adulterant in meat and poultry, Brashears said: “When E. coli 0157:H7 was declared an adulterant, it was very specific to the most pathogenic types of E. coli. We didn't just say E. coli as an adulterant; it was 0157, and then it went all the way down to the genes responsible for pathogenicity, and that's where we have to go [with Salmonella].”

Breaded chicken products were targeted by the previous administration because they are pre-browned and cooked from a frozen state, which means there is a risk that the raw chicken component may not reach the internal temperature required to kill pathogens.  These products account for about five percent of foodborne illnesses linked to chicken.

“I definitely feel that the way the previous administration approached Salmonella was important for us because it opened the door to awareness and made the industry more ready to accept some of the things that we will roll out,” Brashears said. “Salmonella is still one of my primary priorities, if not the top one, as opposed to some of the regulatory agenda items we always have to stay on top of. Salmonella is very important. So, from one administration to the next, we will always focus on providing safe food for American families.”

Brashears moved from her parents’ West Texas cotton and cattle farm to Texas Tech on a Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo scholarship. She earned her BS in Food Technology from TTU, then received her MS and PhD degrees in Food Science from Oklahoma State University, specializing in food microbiology.

Here’s what Mindy Brashears fans say:
She has a strong scientific and academic background.

• Brashears is a career food scientist and microbiologist with extensive research experience in food safety, antimicrobial resistance, and pathogen reduction in meat and poultry systems. 
• She has authored over 130 research papers, led international research teams, and holds more than 20 patents related to food safety innovations. 
• Her academic leadership includes directing the International Center for Food Industry Excellence at Texas Tech University. 

Her prior USDA leadership experience is an advantage.

• She previously served as Under Secretary for Food Safety (2020–2021) and Deputy Under Secretary (2019-2020), giving her direct experience with FSIS operations. 
• Her responsibilities include overseeing 10,000+ food inspectors and scientists, which indicate familiarity with the agency's scale and complexity.

She is a recognized leader in food safety.

• She has been honored by multiple professional organizations, including induction into the Meat Industry Hall of Fame and recognition by the American Meat Science Association. 
• Her work has had a measurable impact on improving food safety practices in both preharvest and postharvest environments.  

Here’s what her detractors are saying: 
She has extensive ties to the meat industry.

• Reporting shows she held numerous advisory and consulting roles with meat and poultry companies prior to her appointment. 
• Financial disclosures indicate she owned up to $1 million worth of shares of a Texas beef processor and had affiliations with multiple industry groups. 
• These ties have raised concerns among some observers about potential conflicts of interest in regulating the same industry.

Critics are worried about her ability to manage riskbased inspection systems.

• Advocacy groups such as Beef Inspection Reform argue that current riskbased inspection practices—overseen by USDA—allow foreign meat to enter the U.S. under weaker protocols, potentially undermining consumer confidence. 
• Although Brashears has defended the system, the criticism highlights ongoing debate about whether USDA inspection policies need reform. 

The lengthy confirmation processes raise questions. 

• Her first confirmation took 430 days, and her second 199 days.
• Senate confirmation delays sometimes suggest an underlying political issue surrounding her appointment, though not necessarily reflecting on her qualifications.

Our take
We did not know of Mindy Brashears until 2017, when she was an expert witness in the BPI v ABC jury trial in Elk Point, SD. That was the trial over BPI’s $1.9 billion defamation claim against ABC over the network’s depiction of the company’s lean, finely textured beef product as “pink slime.” 

With her enthusiasm, directness, and authority, those of us in the cheap seats could tell this Texan had the jury’s full confidence. ABC must have seen it too, because their top-notch lawyers negotiated a confidential settlement with BPI. Before long, reports from Wall Street revealed the settlement was for $177 million.

Brashears testified that the BPI product was beef. Period.

After Brashears stepped down for the Biden administration’s arrival, a congressional staff report on the pandemic’s impact on the meat and poultry industries depicted Brashears as a “fixer” for business interests.

“I was never interviewed for that, “Brashears told Food Safety News. “I was very blindsided by that coming out, so I did not get to respond in any manner before Congress before the report came out. I was never asked to tell my side of the story.”

Brashears was managing a crisis in the meat and poultry industries during the pandemic in 2020, which involved some temporary shutdowns. But, she says, the USDA never had to use the defense authority, which might have kept a plant open against state or local health department preferences.

Brashears breezed through her second confirmation hearing before the Senate Agriculture Committee last October.

The record of those proceedings shows that Brashers is in compliance with all ethics requirements. She sold positions that might pose a conflict and stepped from various boards and clients.

Anyone coming from the private sector to top government positions knows the drill.

She’s back for the second term. She brings her vast experience and scientific expertise to a job that is calling for a long run.

By the numbers
1994 – The year Congress adopted the USDA Reorganization Act, one of the most significant structural reforms in the history of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The act mandates under Title VII that the President appoint, with Senate confirmation, an Under Secretary for Food Safety. A generation later, it remains the legal foundation for USDA’s modern structure. This includes recent efforts to relocate or reduce agencies by granting the Secretary of Agriculture wide latitude to reorganize agencies, delegate functions, and consolidate offices. 

10,681 – A rough approximation of the number of days since the U.S. Senate confirmed the first USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety.

3,881 – The total number of days without an Under Secretary for Food Safety—equivalent to more than ten years. Some gaps occur at the beginning and end of Presidential terms. However, the biggest gap of just over six years occurred when President Obama opted not to nominate someone to immediately succeed Elizabeth Hagen, who resigned in 2013. And after President Trump was elected, the White House took two years to name Mindy Brashears, only to see the Senate hold her nomination for 402 days.

6,800 – The approximate number of days of total service by the six Under Secretaries for Food Safety prior to the current Brashears term. Those individuals, with the number of days they served are:

• Catherine Woteki (1,280 days)
  • Agricultural scientist and nutritionist 
  • Service: July 1997-January 2001
  • Notable: First Under Secretary for Food Safety (1997–2001)
• Elsa A. Murano (1523 days)
  • Director of the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture and Development at Texas A&M University
  • Service: October 2001-December 2005
  • Notable: First woman Hispanic American President of Texas A&M University
• Richard Allen Raymond (1281 days)
• State of Nebraska’s Chief Medical Officer
• Service: July 2005-January 2009
• Notable: The media christened him the "germ czar" regarding Thanksgiving food safety
• Elisabeth Hagen (1219 days)
  • USDA’s Chief Medical Officer
  • Service August 2010-December 2013
  • Notable: Food Safety Strategist
• Mindy Brashears (365 days)
  • Texas Tech University scientist and faculty member
  • Service: March 23, 2020 – January 20, 2021
  • Notable: BPI v. ABC civil jury trial, expert witness
• Dr. José Emilio Esteban (1132 days)
  • Chief Scientist, Food Safety & Inspection Service, USDA
  • Service: 2023-2025
  • Notable: Trained as a Veterinarian in Mexico, now Chief Scientific Officer for Merieux NutriSciences in North America

What it means
If you round it out, the times when the USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety has served add up to about 10 of the last 30 years. It’s a problem that needs solving.

In the past, we’ve suggested that the Under Secretary for Food Safety be appointed to a 10-year term, like the FBI Director. It would cut down on the gaps. Maybe there are other ideas out there.

We are not going to solve it now.

The good news is that Brashears has deep scientific expertise, extensive leadership experience, and recognized contributions to food safety. She spent one year as Deputy and 365 days as Under Secretary for Food Safety the first time.

She is now on track to be one of the longest-serving Under Secretaries since the office was created.

Let’s just hope there will. be enough time for her to get everything she wants done. She talks of wanting “to retrain, regroup, and modernize our approach to Listeria and ready-to-eat meats.”

She’s drawing beef and pork into the Salmonella change. And she is always “collecting data.”

This should be fun.

Do you have any comments, questions or suggestions for future coverage? Click here to give us your feedback. 

Ferris Coffee & Nut Co. of Grand Rapids, MI, is recalling a single lot of Frederik’s by Meijer Vanilla Bourbon Trail Mix because it may contain undeclared wheat and soy. 

People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to wheat or soy run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume these products.

The recalled Frederik’s by Meijer Vanilla Bourbon Trail Mix bags were distributed in Meijer retail stores in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin and Kentucky.

The product comes in a 9-ounce, black bag marked with lot # 6069-1 on the back and with an expiration date of 12/10/26 stamped on the back.

No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this problem.

The recall was initiated after it was discovered that the wheat and soy-containing chocolate-covered pretzel balls were distributed in packaging that did not reveal the presence of wheat or soy, instead of the listed bourbon-flavored caramels. Subsequent investigation indicates the problem was caused by a temporary breakdown in the production and packaging processes at Ferris Coffee & Nut Co.

Production of the product has been suspended until the FDA, and the company are certain that the problem has been corrected.

French Broad Chocolates PBC is recalling Bette’s Bake Sale Bonbon Collection boxes with batch numbers 260414 and 260417 because of the potential to contain undeclared walnuts. 

People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to walnuts run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume these products.

The recalled products were distributed between April 14 and April 20. These products were packaged in paper boxes and sold in French Broad Chocolates retail stores located in Asheville, North Carolina and online at frenchbroadchocolates.com to the following states: AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, HI, IA, IL, IN, KY, LA, MA, MD, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI and WV.

Products affected are:

PRODUCT

SIZE

LOT/DATE CODES

Bette’s Bake Sale 6 piece

2.5oz

Batch 260414 Jun 29 2026
Batch 260417 Jun 30 2026

Bette’s Bake Sale 12 piece

5oz

Batch 260414 Jun 22 2026
Batch 260417 Jun 30 2026

Bette’s Bake Sale 24 piece

10 oz

Batch 260414 Jun 29 2026
Batch 260417 Jun 30 2026

On April 20, the firm was notified by a French Broad Chocolates employee that there was a labeling error on the tasting notes insert that failed to name a tree nut allergen, walnuts.

The Walnut Fudge bonbon, which contains walnuts, is incorrectly identified in the printed tasting notes included with the product. The Walnut Fudge and Peach Cobbler bonbons are switched in the guide, which means a consumer relying on the printed materials could mistakenly consume a nut-containing piece.

No illnesses have been reported to date.

A few months ago, I was supposed to meet with the House and Senate Safe Food Caucus in Washington, D.C. Instead, the night before I was scheduled to speak, I had a heart attack. I'm fine. Great care at Howard University Hospital, a few lifestyle adjustments, and I'm back. But lying in that hospital bed, I kept thinking about the infants who weren't as lucky — the babies hospitalized across this country because the formula their parents trusted to keep them alive was contaminated with a deadly pathogen that could have killed them and sometimes does.

I have spent more than three decades suing the food industry. I've sat across the table from parents who watched their children die from E. coli, Salmonella or Listeria. I've seen what happens when the system fails the most vulnerable people among us. And I am here to tell you, plainly and without equivocation: the infant formula industry has a catastrophic safety problem, and the federal government has been too slow, too timid, and too deferential to industry to fix it.

Let's be honest about what has happened.

In 2022, the country faced an infant formula crisis that exposed something deeply disturbing: Abbott Nutrition's Sturgis, Michigan, facility had internal records documenting the destruction of product contaminated with Cronobacter sakazakii— and the company hadn't told anyone. The FDA hadn't inspected the plant in two years. Four infants became ill with Cronobacter. Two died. One child was sick with Salmonella. Abbott acknowledged finding evidence of Cronobacter in non-product-contact areas of the plant while publicly denying contaminated formula had reached consumers. The FDA received the first complaint in September 2021. The recall didn't come until February 2022. Five months. Five months while sick babies piled up.

I said at the time that the first Cronobacter case — a pathogen so rare and so strongly associated with powdered infant formula that any good epidemiologist should have treated it as a four-alarm fire — should have been enough for the FDA to move immediately. It wasn't.

We apparently learned nothing.

In the fall of 2025, the country witnessed a multistate outbreak of infant botulism linked to ByHeart Whole Nutrition infant formula. By the time the outbreak was declared over by the CDC in February 2026, 48 infants had been hospitalized across 17 states. All 48 required treatment with BabyBIG, the only antitoxin for infant botulism, which exists solely because California had the foresight to develop and maintain it. No child died — and that fact owes more to the existence of that antitoxin and the vigilance of California public health officials than to anything the FDA or the formula industry did to prevent the contamination in the first place.  I represent over one half of the infants.

Here is what we know: Clostridium botulinum was detected in opened and unopened cans of ByHeart formula and in a powdered milk ingredient. FDA inspectors had visited ByHeart's Iowa facility in 2022 and found Cronobacter sakazakiinear the milk dryer. They noted microcracks in equipment that could harbor bacteria. The company had a prior Cronobacter recall in 2022 and received an FDA warning letter in 2023. Yet the formula remained on the market. Infants kept getting sick with botulism — with cases tracing back, after case-definition expansion, as far as December 2023.

Let me be direct: we have a systemic failure. It is not a single company's failure, though companies bear enormous responsibility. It is a failure of an entire regulatory architecture that treats powdered infant formula — a product fed to the most immunologically vulnerable human beings on earth, often from the day they are born — as something less than the sterile, rigorously tested, and relentlessly inspected product it must be and parents assume it is.

Powdered infant formula is not crackers. It is not cereal. For many babies, it is the only food they consume. A parent who opens a can of formula and mixes it with water for their newborn is placing absolute trust in the company that made it and the government that allowed it to be sold. That trust has been broken, repeatedly, by the same pathogens, in the same vulnerable population, in ways that were entirely predictable and often preventable.

In March of this year Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) introduced the Infant Formula Safety Modernization Act, which is comprehensive bipartisan legislation to modernize federal oversight of the nation’s infant formula supply and close longstanding gaps in testing, transparency, and regulatory enforcement.

Building on the Congressmember’s work, here is what I believe we must do — and I am not being radical; I am being reasonable:

Like liquid infant formula, powdered infant formula should be commercially sterile. Full stop. The technology exists. We require it for other products. The argument that sterility is technically or commercially challenging does not impress me when the alternative is babies on ventilators and feeding tubes. If a company cannot produce a sterile product for infants, it should not be producing infant formula. Leave it to the industry to figure out how to achieve this — retort processing, reformulation, whatever works — but set the standard and enforce it.

Mandatory pre-market testing must be required. Before a single can of powdered infant formula reaches a store shelf, its ingredients must be tested — not by the company alone, but verified by independent, accredited laboratories — for C. botulinum, Cronobacter sakazakii, Salmonella, Bacillus cereus, and other relevant pathogens. The testing, both in the products and the environment should be statically robust. The current voluntary and largely self-reported system is inadequate. It has failed. It will fail again.

Routine, unannounced FDA inspections must occur, and we need to fully fund Food Safety. A two-year gap in inspections at the Abbott Sturgis facility while infants were being sickened is unconscionable. The FDA must inspect every infant formula manufacturing facility on a regular, mandatory schedule. When inspectors find microcracks in milk dryers where Cronobacter is detected — as they did at ByHeart in 2022 — there must be immediate, mandatory follow-up to confirm remediation, not a warning letter and a hope that the company follows through.  We also need a dedicated funding stream for food safety and get the DOGE Bros out of public safety.

We need a real risk assessment and updated regulations. The FDA's existing framework for powdered infant formula was not designed with C. botulinum as a primary threat. Hopefully, the ByHeart outbreak changed that calculus. We need a comprehensive, well-funded risk assessment of C. botulinum spores, Cronobacter sakazakii, Salmonella, and Bacillus cereus in infant formula and its constituent ingredients — raw milk, pasteurized milk, dairy powders. We need to understand contamination pathways, evaluate whether current detection methods are sensitive enough, and determine where in the supply chain spores are entering the product.

I have been told, repeatedly, that more regulation will harm innovation, burden small producers, and raise costs for families. I have heard these arguments in every industry I have ever litigated against. They are the same arguments the beef industry made before USDA declared E. coli O157:H7 an adulterant. The industry adjusts. It innovates. It finds a way to meet the standard when the standard is enforced. And, guess what, today we seldom see an E. coli outbreak linked to beef.

In conclusion, forty-eight infants were hospitalized in the ByHeart outbreak. Every single one of them was fed formula their parents believed was safe because the company and the government said it was safe. Every single one of the babies was between 16 days and 264 days old. Several were neonates — newborns, days into their lives, fighting for those lives in intensive care units.

We are the wealthiest nation in the history of human civilization. We spend countless billions on wars, artificial intelligence, ball rooms and arches. We can make infant formula safe. We have chosen, thus far, not to do the hard regulatory work required to ensure it.

I am asking us — finally — to choose differently.

The babies in those hospital beds cannot advocate for themselves. Their parents, exhausted and terrified, can barely advocate for themselves. That is why the rest of us have to.

William “Bill” Marler has been a food safety lawyer and advocate since the 1993 Jack-in-the-Box E. coli Outbreak which was chronicled in the book, “Poisoned” and in the recent Emmy Award winning Netflix documentary by the same name. Bill work has been profiled in the New Yorker, “A Bug in the System;” the Seattle Times, “30 years after the deadly E. coli outbreak, A Seattle attorney still fights for food safety;” the Washington Post, “He helped make burgers safer, Now he is fighting food poisoning again;” and several others. 

A claim relating to Salmonella contamination at Strauss in Israel in 2022 appears to be heading to court following a breakdown in settlement discussions.

During routine tests for Salmonella at a chocolate factory in Nof Hagalil in April 2022, a positive was found. As a result, Strauss Israel recalled all chocolate products manufactured at the site.

The 2026 Food Safety Summit is just two weeks away, bringing together food safety professionals from across the industry for an immersive, solutions-driven event packed with expert insights, hands-on learning, and meaningful connections.

Now in its 28th year, the Summit will feature a comprehensive and forward-looking program designed to address today’s most pressing food safety challenges. Attendees will experience a robust lineup of education sessions, interactive workshops, and engaging discussions led by leaders from industry, academia, and government.

For those unable to attend in person, the Summit will offer a free, four-session livestream option, providing remote access to key topics including Leveraging AI for Food Safety, Navigating Food Allergens, Effective Pathogen Control, and the Foreign Material Maturity Model. View the full streaming schedule at: https://www.food-safety.com/events/category/422

An assessment of black pepper controls in Brazil has revealed the Salmonella contamination rate has improved but raised questions about a lack of checks at primary production level.

The September 2025 DG Sante audit assessed the official control systems for food of non-animal origin intended for export to the European Union to prevent microbiological contamination, with a focus on black pepper and watermelons.

I read in the Lancet today about the need for universal Hepatitis A vaccination for children to prevent what can be a devastating illness.  However, under the current US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regime this safe and effective vaccination was removed from recommended childhood vaccinations. Another move putting politics before public health.

I have spent the better part of three decades in courtrooms, fighting for people who were sickened — sometimes catastrophically — by preventable foodborne illness. I have sat across from families who lost loved ones to E. coli, Salmonella, and Listeria. But few pathogens frustrate me more than Hepatitis A, because we have had a safe, effective vaccine against it since 1995, and we still can't seem to get it into the arms of the people who need it most.

Hepatitis A is a liver disease spread primarily through contaminated food and water, and through the fecal-oral route. It is, in plain terms, a disease of hygiene and poverty. It thrives where handwashing is inadequate, where workers can't afford to call in sick, and where access to healthcare is limited. That description fits far too many American food service workers.

Consider what happens when a single infected restaurant employee handles food before symptoms appear — because Hepatitis A is most contagious in the two weeks before a person feels sick. A single outbreak can expose hundreds, sometimes thousands, of customers. I have litigated cases involving fast food chains, buffet restaurants, catered events, and grocery store delis. The pattern is always the same: one unvaccinated worker, one lapse in handwashing, and suddenly the local health department is scrambling to offer post-exposure prophylaxis to an entire community. The cost — human, financial, and reputational — is enormous.

The economic argument alone should be compelling. A full course of the Hepatitis A vaccine costs somewhere between $100 and $200. A single outbreak investigation, combined with the medical costs of infected patrons and the near-certain loss of business for the restaurant involved, can run into the millions. The lawsuits that follow are expensive for everyone. I know, because I file them.

But this is bigger than economics. Hepatitis A disproportionately strikes the most vulnerable — older adults, people with liver disease, the unhoused, and communities with inadequate sanitation infrastructure. When a food service worker unknowingly carries the virus, they become an unwitting bridge between a contagious disease and a dining public that has no reason to suspect the guacamole is dangerous.

Some states have moved toward requiring Hepatitis A vaccination for food handlers. That is progress, but it is patchwork. We need a consistent national standard. Employers in the food service industry should be required — not merely encouraged — to ensure their workers are vaccinated, and they should bear the cost. These are the same businesses that profit from public trust. Maintaining that trust is part of the cost of doing business.

I also want to be clear: food service workers are not the villains here. They are often working without sick leave, without health insurance, and without anyone explaining that a free vaccine could protect them, their families, and every customer they serve. The failure is systemic. It belongs to employers who cut corners, to legislators who resist mandates, and to a public health infrastructure chronically starved of resources.

In the past we vaccinated children against Hepatitis A as part of the standard childhood immunization schedule – and, hope most still do. However, the question is why we are willing to protect our children but not the workers who handle their food.

The vaccine exists. The science is settled. The outbreaks are predictable and preventable. What we lack is the political will to act. I have seen the consequences of that inaction. They are not abstract — they have names, medical records, and in some cases, headstones.

Vaccinate food service workers. Vaccinate everyone. This is not a radical position. It is simply the logical conclusion of everything we know about this disease. And, by the way – fire RFK Jr. and his anti-vaccination mafia.

Bill Marler is a food safety attorney and managing partner at Marler Clark, the nation's leading law firm representing victims of foodborne illness outbreaks. William “Bill” Marler has been a food safety lawyer and advocate since the 1993 Jack-in-the-Box E. coli Outbreak which was chronicled in the book, “Poisoned” and in the recent Emmy Award winning Netflix documentary by the same name. Bill work has been profiled in the New Yorker, “A Bug in the System;” the Seattle Times, “30 years after the deadly E. coli outbreak, A Seattle attorney still fights for food safety;” the Washington Post, “He helped make burgers safer, Now he is fighting food poisoning again;” and several others. 

Health officials in Finland are searching for the source of a Salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than 30 people.

The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) and Finnish Food Authority (Ruokavirasto) are investigating the Salmonella Bovismorbificans outbreak with the help of local environmental health agencies.

During March and April, 32 people have fallen ill in various parts of Finland. Several of them have needed hospital treatment.

The average age of patients is 45 and the range is 17 to 77 years old. In total, 23 patients are women. The infections are estimated to have been acquired domestically.

Fifteen strains have been sequenced and were found to be similar, which points to a common source of infection. Initial information suggests that the infections may have been caused by eating contaminated uncooked sprouts.

THL asked regional agencies to send samples from domestic infections to its laboratory for typing and to begin interviewing ill people to determine possible food sources.

In 2025, 712 Salmonella infections were reported in the country and only four were Salmonella Bovismorbificans.

About Salmonella infections
Food contaminated with Salmonella bacteria does not usually look, smell, or taste spoiled. Anyone can become sick with a Salmonella infection. Infants, children, seniors, and people with weakened immune systems are at higher risk of serious illness because their immune systems are fragile.

Anyone who has developed symptoms of Salmonella infection should seek medical attention. Sick people should tell their doctors about the possible exposure to Salmonella bacteria because special tests are necessary to diagnose salmonellosis. Salmonella infection symptoms can mimic other illnesses, frequently leading to misdiagnosis.

Symptoms of Salmonella infection can include diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever within 12 to 72 hours after eating contaminated food. Otherwise healthy adults are usually sick for four to seven days. In some cases, however, diarrhea may be so severe that patients require hospitalization.

Older adults, children, pregnant women, and people with weakened immune systems, such as cancer patients, are more likely to develop a severe illness and serious, sometimes life-threatening conditions. Some people are infected with Salmonella without getting sick or showing any symptoms. However, they may still spread the infections to others.

A year after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. encouraged food companies to voluntarily phase out their use of synthetic dyes, little action has been taken.

According to Consumer Reports, promises by major companies like Coca-Cola, Mondelez, and Unilever haven’t materialized. The non-profit group has supported state legislation in states like New York, which approved a bill this week requiring food companies to make public information about food chemicals including dyes.

Chinese authorities have issued penalties against seven e-commerce platforms for violations including food safety.

The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) imposed fines for a series of "ghost kitchen" food delivery cases.

Citing the food safety and e-commerce laws of China, SAMR ordered the platforms to correct their illegal activities, suspended the addition of new shops for periods ranging from three to nine months, and imposed fines and confiscations totaling 3.6 billion yuan (U.S. $530 million).

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is reporting that Ayco Farms Inc., recalled 8,302 cartons of whole cantaloupes because the fruit may be contaminated with Salmonella.

The cantaloupes were sold by Ayco Farms Inc., which first initiated the recall on March 24. On April 20, the FDA upgraded the recall to Class I, meaning that consuming the fruit could lead to severe health consequences or death.

The melons were sold in sold in Florida, New York, Pennsylvania and California.

According to the FDA, the affected cantaloupes can be identified with the following information:

• Product information: Fresh Cantaloupe (Whole, Fresh)
  • Packaging: wrapped in food-safe plastic bags, packed in corrugated cardboard cartons, 6-12 melons per box
  • Lot numbers: GC26257, GC26270, GC26288, GC26289, GC26290, GC26294, GC26299, GC26301, GC26307, GC26308, GC26311, GC26312, GC26313, GC26318, GC26325, GC26326, GC26328, SCX2601, SCX2606, SCX2611, SCX2614, SCX2622, SCX2625, SCX2629, SCX2633, SGC2601, SGC2602, and SGC2607

About Salmonella infections
Food contaminated with Salmonella bacteria does not usually look, smell, or taste spoiled. Anyone can become sick with a Salmonella infection. Infants, children, seniors, and people with weakened immune systems are at higher risk of serious illness because their immune systems are fragile.

Anyone who has eaten any of the recalled cantaloupe and developed symptoms of Salmonella infection should seek medical attention. Sick people should tell their doctors about the possible exposure to Salmonella bacteria because special tests are necessary to diagnose salmonellosis. Salmonella infection symptoms can mimic other illnesses, frequently leading to misdiagnosis.

Symptoms of Salmonella infection can include diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever within 12 to 72 hours after eating contaminated food. Otherwise, healthy adults are usually sick for four to seven days. In some cases, however, diarrhea may be so severe that patients require hospitalization.

Older adults, children, pregnant women, and people with weakened immune systems, such as cancer patients, are more likely to develop a severe illness and serious, sometimes life-threatening conditions.

Some people get infected without getting sick or showing any symptoms. However, they may still spread the infections to others.

The state Assembly in New York has approved a law targeting food chemicals that are generally recognized as safe (GRAS).

The New York Food Safety and Chemical Disclosure Act (S1239/A1556) establishes a web database of safety assessments for food chemicals used in New York, which will have national implications for disclosing safety assessments that food companies have been able to keep secret since 1958.

An agency in the Isle of Man has been told to look again at a food hygiene request after initially refusing to release information.

The Information Commissioner upheld a complaint against the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture (DEFA).

Contaminated food plays a key role in the spread of several major pathogens, according to a Dutch source attribution study.

Scientists attributed cases of 26 foodborne pathogens in the Netherlands to seven transmission pathways, 20 food groups, and two animal groups.

Austrian authorities are investigating after rat poison was discovered in a brand of baby food.

The Burgenland State Criminal Police Office seized a tampered jar of HiPP brand carrot and potato baby food 190-grams in the Eisenstadt-Umgebung district. Action was prompted by ongoing investigations in Germany.

The affected jar was marked with a white sticker and a red circle on the bottom. According to police, the product tested positive for rat poison. The jar had a damaged lid that had already been opened and made no "pop" sound when opened again. It also had an unusual smell.

The report was made by a member of the public, but the product was not consumed. In the Czech Republic and Slovakia, marked glasses were also seized by police.

It appears to be a deliberate act and not a problem related to the manufacturer's production process.

Spar Austria has withdrawn the entire HiPP baby food jar range from sale as a precautionary measure. Customers are asked not to consume and return HiPP jars purchased from Spar, Eurospar, Interspar or Maximark.

In the Czech Republic, information from the Regional Public Prosecutor's Office in Brno shows that police seized two jars of HiPP baby food in a store in Brno, which matched the description given in an e-mail sent by the unknown perpetrator.

Rat poisons contain various ingredients with different health effects. The most common ingredient is bromadiolone, a vitamin K antagonist. This inhibits the effect of vitamin K, which is necessary for blood clotting. As a result, clotting ability can be reduced. Possible consequences in humans include bleeding gums, nosebleeds, bruising, and blood in the stool. Symptoms may appear within two to five days of ingestion.