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The big Boar's Head listeria recalls were in Summer 2024, before Trump was elected, before Doge existed... https://www.cbsnews.com/news/boars-head-listeria-rec

The big Boar's Head listeria recalls were in Summer 2024, before Trump was elected, before Doge existed... https://www.cbsnews.com/news/boars-head-listeria-recall-bug-mold-mildew-what-to-know/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/boars-head-listeria-recall-bug-... https://www.fsis.usda.gov/recalls-alerts/boars-head-provisions-co--expands-recall-ready-eat-meat-and-poultry-products-due https://www.fsis.usda.gov/recalls-alerts/boars-head-provisio...

gnuplustoejam 19d ago
McDonalds was October 2024 too. Let's not let facts and real data get in the way though. Every post is being massively downvoted.
- Arubis 19d ago
  Firing USDA inspectors etc. is definitely directionally stupid. But yeah, this issue is preexisting. A huge portion of USGov’s rules and regulations were written in response to the social push when stuff like The Jungle was hitting the public perception—which is to say, when public health could be meaningfully improved by a simple non-magnified visual inspection of meat destined for sale. And so that’s what we get: a visual inspection of meat destined for sale. Say what you will about the overall regulatory environment of Canada and the EU—you can buy meat there and know that you will not get salmonella, because it’s been tested for salmonella, and it won’t be sold for consumption if that test is positive. Stateside we’re just told: well, cook it properly or it’s on you.
  - gnuplustoejam 19d ago
    > Canada and the EU—you can buy meat there and know that you will not get salmonella Where can I locate this Salmonella-immune Bizarro Canada and Bizarro EU on a map? https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2026/04/ongoing-salmonella-outbreak-in-canada-has-sickened-almost-200/ https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2026/04/ongoing-salmonella-ou... https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/article/90-confirmed-salmonella-cases-in-outbreak-linked-to-salami-health-agency/ https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/article/90-confirmed-salmonell... https://www.foodpoisoningnews.com/salmonella-outbreak-in-canada-update-84-total-illnesses-9-hospitalizations/ https://www.foodpoisoningnews.com/salmonella-outbreak-in-can... https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2026/08/polish-eggs-linked-to-4-french-salmonella-outbreaks/ https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2026/08/polish-eggs-linked-to... https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2025/10/salmonella-sickens-50-in-italian-region/ https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2025/10/salmonella-sickens-50... https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2026/04/one-dead-in-german-salmonella-outbreak/ https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2026/04/one-dead-in-german-sa...
    - Arubis 19d ago
      Interesting -- I stand at least in part corrected. It _is_ the case that there's regulations intended specifically to address this. It seems they're not 100% effective, though. What gets me about your linked cases is that, with one exception, they're all to foods that you'd consume without further preparation or cooking. Not sure what to make of that--but it's not what you'd expect for a salmonella source.
      - gnuplustoejam 19d ago
        Salmonella is destroyed by heat. That's why you should thoroughly cook your food, especially if you have a weakened immune system. Eggs get recalled for Salmonella because we like them sunny side-up. Salmonella in ready-to-eat foods, introduced by cross-contamination, is a different story.
      - sellmesoap 18d ago
        The last time I had salmonella like food poisoning in Canada was likely a plate of vegetarian linguini in a small town restaurant. Could be someone grabbed my plate while processing meat or who knows... Meanwhile our food regulation folks are busy culling herds a year+ after a reported bird flu infection, or herds of cattle/raindeer at great emotional and financial cost only to have tests come back clean. Maybe we need to acknowledge when actions are more destructive then protective and course correct, issue apologies and make financial repairs to those affected. It sure makes for a lot of negative publicity for agencies tasked with protecting the public.
usefulcat 19d ago
The fact that those problems occurred prior to Doge underscores the stupidity of Doge cutting FDA resources.
- bsian 19d ago
  [flagged]
  - jknoepfler 19d ago
    The solution is very clearly neither deregulation nor defunding regulatory agencies.
    - WillPostForFood 19d ago
      Why not? If the agency is doing a poor job you might be better of defunding it or disbanding, or forcing smarter, cheaper, more efficient testing. If money fixed problems we'd have great schools and great health care.
      - doodlebugging 19d ago
        Money does fix those problems. The problem is that the money that could be used is being applied to the wrong problem or is being siphoned off by those whose only goal is accumulation of money since that accumulation might guarantee more power in the process of selecting how to direct the next cash infusion, which they also hope to accumulate.
EA-3167 19d ago
The other issue is that looking into both standard and "Major" recalls by the FDA this year isn't statistically different from any other. In fact there's no overall trend going back years, it mostly seems to be media coverage and the (understandable) rage and frustration with the current admin. It's still a shame to see so many people on HN thoughtlessly repeat a media narrative without considering the stats though.

gnuplustoejam 19d ago

McDonalds was October 2024 too. Let's not let facts and real data get in the way though. Every post is being massively downvoted.

Arubis 19d ago
Firing USDA inspectors etc. is definitely directionally stupid. But yeah, this issue is preexisting. A huge portion of USGov’s rules and regulations were written in response to the social push when stuff like The Jungle was hitting the public perception—which is to say, when public health could be meaningfully improved by a simple non-magnified visual inspection of meat destined for sale. And so that’s what we get: a visual inspection of meat destined for sale. Say what you will about the overall regulatory environment of Canada and the EU—you can buy meat there and know that you will not get salmonella, because it’s been tested for salmonella, and it won’t be sold for consumption if that test is positive. Stateside we’re just told: well, cook it properly or it’s on you.
- gnuplustoejam 19d ago
  > Canada and the EU—you can buy meat there and know that you will not get salmonella Where can I locate this Salmonella-immune Bizarro Canada and Bizarro EU on a map? https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2026/04/ongoing-salmonella-outbreak-in-canada-has-sickened-almost-200/ https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2026/04/ongoing-salmonella-ou... https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/article/90-confirmed-salmonella-cases-in-outbreak-linked-to-salami-health-agency/ https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/article/90-confirmed-salmonell... https://www.foodpoisoningnews.com/salmonella-outbreak-in-canada-update-84-total-illnesses-9-hospitalizations/ https://www.foodpoisoningnews.com/salmonella-outbreak-in-can... https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2026/08/polish-eggs-linked-to-4-french-salmonella-outbreaks/ https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2026/08/polish-eggs-linked-to... https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2025/10/salmonella-sickens-50-in-italian-region/ https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2025/10/salmonella-sickens-50... https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2026/04/one-dead-in-german-salmonella-outbreak/ https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2026/04/one-dead-in-german-sa...
  - Arubis 19d ago
    Interesting -- I stand at least in part corrected. It _is_ the case that there's regulations intended specifically to address this. It seems they're not 100% effective, though. What gets me about your linked cases is that, with one exception, they're all to foods that you'd consume without further preparation or cooking. Not sure what to make of that--but it's not what you'd expect for a salmonella source.
    - gnuplustoejam 19d ago
      Salmonella is destroyed by heat. That's why you should thoroughly cook your food, especially if you have a weakened immune system. Eggs get recalled for Salmonella because we like them sunny side-up. Salmonella in ready-to-eat foods, introduced by cross-contamination, is a different story.
    - sellmesoap 18d ago
      The last time I had salmonella like food poisoning in Canada was likely a plate of vegetarian linguini in a small town restaurant. Could be someone grabbed my plate while processing meat or who knows... Meanwhile our food regulation folks are busy culling herds a year+ after a reported bird flu infection, or herds of cattle/raindeer at great emotional and financial cost only to have tests come back clean. Maybe we need to acknowledge when actions are more destructive then protective and course correct, issue apologies and make financial repairs to those affected. It sure makes for a lot of negative publicity for agencies tasked with protecting the public.

usefulcat 19d ago

The fact that those problems occurred prior to Doge underscores the stupidity of Doge cutting FDA resources.

bsian 19d ago
[flagged]
- jknoepfler 19d ago
  The solution is very clearly neither deregulation nor defunding regulatory agencies.
  - WillPostForFood 19d ago
    Why not? If the agency is doing a poor job you might be better of defunding it or disbanding, or forcing smarter, cheaper, more efficient testing. If money fixed problems we'd have great schools and great health care.
    - doodlebugging 19d ago
      Money does fix those problems. The problem is that the money that could be used is being applied to the wrong problem or is being siphoned off by those whose only goal is accumulation of money since that accumulation might guarantee more power in the process of selecting how to direct the next cash infusion, which they also hope to accumulate.

EA-3167 19d ago

The other issue is that looking into both standard and "Major" recalls by the FDA this year isn't statistically different from any other. In fact there's no overall trend going back years, it mostly seems to be media coverage and the (understandable) rage and frustration with the current admin. It's still a shame to see so many people on HN thoughtlessly repeat a media narrative without considering the stats though.