What You Should Really Do After a Food Recall

Click through the FDA's list of recalls and you'll find at least one on almost every day of the week. The reasons range from labeling errors to stowaway metal pieces, but just in the past few months, several high-profile recalls have been linked to the potentially-lethal pathogen Listeria. There was Amy's Kitchen in March and Sabra in early April. The ongoing Listeria outbreak linked to Blue Bell ice creams has sickened at least ten patients and resulted in three deaths; in a rare move, the company recalled its entire product line. And yesterday Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream announced that it too was recalling all of its products due to a Listeria scare. (At this time there's no evidence to suggest a connection between the two cases.)

Foodborne illness outbreaks do appear to be on the rise nationwide. While some of the uptick can be attributed to better detection methods—in the Blue Bell case, for instance, whole genome sequencing technology allowed scientists to identify more cases than previously possible—the increased centralization of America's food system also plays a role in dispersing foodborne illness. A single factory might handle products that go to multiple grocery store chains, expanding the scope of an outbreak across state lines. According to the FDA, outbreaks are now "happening over longer periods of time and often occur in widely separated areas, making them difficult to detect."