The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Office of Coordinated Outbreak Response, Evaluation, & Emergency Preparedness (CORE+EP) has released its annual report on 2024 foodborne illness investigations, showing that vegetables and fruits were responsible for 60% of illnesses, trailed by multi-ingredient foods (20%), dairy products (10%), and nuts and seeds and eggs (5% each).
The multi-ingredient foods were frozen shakes, shrimp salad, bagged salad mix, chocolates, gummies, and cones, while the nuts were walnuts, and the cheese consisted of raw cheddar, queso fresco, and cotija. The produce included mangoes, romaine lettuce, spinach, cucumbers, jalapeno peppers, carrots, onions, sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, basil, and parsley.
Average amount of activity
The CORE Signals and Surveillance team assessed 72 adverse events and potential and confirmed outbreaks, 26 responses to incidents involving an FDA-regulated food, and 10 advisories issued to give consumers information on how to stay well in an outbreak. Those numbers are comparable with those from recent years, including 2023, which saw 69 incidents, 25 responses, and 10 advisories (nine related to multistate outbreaks and one to a series of adverse events).
When investigators find the food source of a multistate foodborne illness outbreak, they can take public health actions, such as issuing a public health advisory or recommending that companies voluntarily recall products confirmed to be associated with an outbreak.
In addition to the advisories, CORE investigations resulted in recalls, a warning letter, a consent decree of permanent injunction (court-approved agreement that settles a lawsuit without admitting liability), and the deployment of FDA prevention strategies.
“When investigators find the food source of a multistate foodborne illness outbreak, they can take public health actions, such as issuing a public health advisory or recommending that companies voluntarily recall products confirmed to be associated with an outbreak,” the report said. “In some cases, FDA’s Office of Compliance & Enforcement can pursue additional compliance actions to further protect consumers from unsafe food, such as issuance of warning letters, seizure, injunction, and addition of firms to import alerts.”
Notable 2024 outbreaks included an Escherichia coli outbreak tied to organic baby carrots, a Listeria outbreak dating back to 2015 related to cotija and queso fresco cheeses, and a series of adverse events traced to infused chocolate bars, cones, and gummies.
Collaboration with CDC, other FDA offices
Established in 2011, the CORE Network also informs follow-up activities conducted by other FDA offices and divisions, such as follow-up inspections, continued risk assessments, and the development of prevention strategies.
The Signals and Surveillance team assesses emerging outbreaks and disease surveillance trends in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), other FDA offices, and state agencies. It reviews data from food companies, including previous inspections, sampling results, product distribution, and sourcing.
In October 2024, CORE expanded to include an emergency preparedness team focused on food defense, traceability, and supply chain management. One of its missions is to identify, end, and help prevent foodborne outbreaks through disease surveillance and response and post-response activities in collaboration with the CDC and state, local, and international authorities.
In 2024, CORE+EP had key roles in the development of training for both industry and regulators, deployment of FDA’s internal Product Tracing System to test and prepare the system for use during active investigations, and education and outreach efforts.
