INSIDE COMPLIANCE

This summer, a microscopic parasite exposed a hole in America’s food safety system. More than 12,000 people got sick, hundreds were hospitalized, and two people in Michigan died after eating contaminated iceberg lettuce. After weeks of research, investigators were able to trace the contamination to Taylor Farms de México. The CDC closed the investigation on September 11, 2026, but classifying the investigation as closed is not the same as resolving the issue, and it certainly does not mean future incidents will be prevented. The delay in tracing the contamination was not an accident but a predictable consequence of a recent legislative decision. In 2022, the FDA finalized the Food Traceability Rule, implementing Section 204 of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), a regulation designed to make this exact type of tracing fast. However, Congress, after a proposal by the FDA, quietly delayed enforcement until 2028, allowing the rule to sit idle through the very season it was meant to help. This restriction should be repealed and authority over the compliance timeline returned to the FDA, so the agency can revisit any delay as new risks emerge. Otherwise, as the 2026 Cyclospora outbreaks show, the American public will bear the costs of an FDA constrained by funding restrictions.