Roughly 48 million Americans get sick from foodborne illness every year, with about 128,000 hospitalized and 3,000 killed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For decades, a federal surveillance system called FoodNet has served as one of the country’s most reliable early warning tools for catching outbreaks before they spread. That system just got smaller, and food safety experts say the timing could not be worse.
A surveillance network built to catch outbreaks early
FoodNet has tracked foodborne pathogens since 1995 through a partnership between the CDC, the FDA, the USDA and state health departments across nine states and parts of two others, covering roughly 16% of the U.S. population. The network monitors eight pathogens commonly linked to food poisoning, including Salmonella, Listeria, Campylobacter and E. coli, giving public health officials a consistent, population based picture of how foodborne illness trends shift year to year.
What changed, and why
As of July 2025, the CDC scaled back FoodNet’s required reporting to just two pathogens, Salmonella and Shiga toxin producing E. coli. Tracking for the other six, including Campylobacter, Listeria, Shigella, Vibrio, Yersinia and Cyclospora, became optional rather than mandatory, a shift the department attributed to reduced federal funding. States can still choose to monitor those pathogens on their own, but public health experts warn that optional surveillance tends to produce gaps, particularly for pathogens like Listeria that cause fewer illnesses overall but carry a disproportionately high death rate.
Why the timing raises concerns
The scale back arrives not long after two major Listeria outbreaks underscored the pathogen’s danger. A 2024 outbreak tied to Boar’s Head deli meat sickened at least 61 people across 19 states and was linked to 10 deaths, while a more recent outbreak connected to prepackaged, precooked meals caused 17 illnesses and three deaths. Public health researchers have specifically flagged Listeria as one of the pathogens most likely to fall through the cracks under the new, optional reporting structure, since it depends heavily on the kind of consistent, active surveillance FoodNet was originally built to provide.
Where illness actually comes from
Separately from the FoodNet changes, the CDC’s Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration continues to track which foods are most often responsible for outbreaks. Produce accounts for nearly half of all foodborne illnesses, most commonly tied to norovirus, while meat and poultry remain the leading sources of fatal infections, largely driven by Salmonella and Listeria. Together, just four pathogens, Salmonella, Listeria, E. coli O157 and Campylobacter, are estimated to cause close to 1.9 million illnesses in the United States each year.
A system already stretched thin
Government watchdogs have raised similar concerns well before the FoodNet cuts. A recent Government Accountability Office review found that federal food safety oversight remains fragmented across 15 different agencies and more than 30 laws, with several long standing recommendations for a unified national strategy still unaddressed. The report also noted that foodborne illness costs the country an estimated $75 billion annually in medical care, lost productivity and premature deaths.
What it means going forward
Reduced surveillance does not necessarily mean fewer people are getting sick, only that fewer illnesses may be detected and reported through the country’s primary tracking system. Public health researchers argue that consistent, well funded surveillance remains the foundation of an effective food safety system, not an expendable line item, particularly as new pathogens continue to emerge and food supply chains grow more complex. Whether states step up their own optional tracking in the pathogens’ absence may end up shaping how quickly the next major outbreak gets caught.
