A few days ago, my wife asked me why it seems like every other day we see another news report of a foodborne illness outbreak and/or product recall. The defense lawyer in me had an immediate response, “this is actually proof that the food safety system is working.” But this is not true, says Frank Yiannis, the former FDA deputy commissioner for food policy and response from December of 2018 to early 2022. He contends this “spin” is “alarming and … off-the-mark."

While Mr. Yiannis acknowledges the system has improved over the years in its ability to detect illness clusters associated with food, he notes that “Food Safety 101, HACCP, and general public health principles” applicable to the US food safety system are designed “to PREVENT illnesses from happening in the first place — not detect them.” Despite the passage of the Food Safety and Modernization Act, millions of employees being trained, FDA conducting tens of thousands of inspections and testing millions of samples per year, the incidence of illnesses due to many foodborne pathogens has not changed in decades. And Mr. Yiannis persuasively argues “[i]n no other profession, whether it’s the manufacturing of medical equipment, medicines, airplane parts, would we accept the notion that recalls are a sign that the system is working – neither should we in food.”

Like me, Mr. Yiannis believes that on-balance the US food system is generally safe. And we both agree there are too many outbreaks, illnesses, and recalls due to contamination in our food. He asserts that when it comes to food safety, we cannot accept the status quo. On that we agree as well. He has convinced me the response I made to my wife was indeed “off-the-mark.”