Viewpoint: How badly is the U.S. food-safety net fraying? FDA’s bungled handling of the tainted lettuce crisis deepens concerns over cuts to disease tracking and response Henry Miller, Jon Entine | October 27, 2026

https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2026/10/27/viewpoint-how-badly-is-the-u-s-food-safety-net-fraying-the-fdas-bungled-handling-of-the-summers-tainted-lettuce-crisis-deepens-concerns-over-administration-cuts-to-disease-trackin/ This summer, a Cyclospora outbreak linked to iceberg lettuce sickened almost 13,000 people in 21 states, killing two. Investigators traced the illnesses to lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms de Mexico, but the FDA closed its investigation on October 2 without determining how the food became contaminated, leaving questions about how to prevent similar outbreaks in the future.