Consumer Reports, an advocacy group, has made a list of the 10 riskiest foods on the basis of recall and foodborne disease outbreak information gathered from federal agencies of food regulation.
For the purposes of the analysis, CR used a specific data extraction software that took out the data from the CDC, THE FDA, and the USDA.
They used information on food recalls and outbreaks associated with foodborne diseases in the period from January 2017 until December 2022. The focus was on incidents of microbiological origin.
What Did the Consumer Reports Conclude through the Research?
In order to rank the risks of the foods in the analysis, they took into account the number of times that the food was recalled and or the outbreaks associated with specific foods and the number of diseases and deaths linked with foodborne disease outbreaks.
They also counted the states where the outbreaks happened and the number of foods that were recalled or associated with an outbreak.
Below, in descending order, you can find the list of 10 top foods associated with major recalls and outbreaks in the US in the period from 2017 to 2022 that the CR identified.
10 Risky Foods Associated with Foodborne Diseases
- Leafy greens
- Usually contaminated with L. monocytogenes or E. coli
- They led to 11 deaths and 614 diseases
- Involved in 50 outbreaks/recalls
- 4,390,638 products recalled
- Deli meats and cheese
- Usually contaminated with Salmonella or L. monocytogenes
- They led to seven deaths and 409 diseases
- Involved in 122 outbreaks/recalls
- 16,925,594 pounds of it was recalled
- Ground beef
- Usually contaminated with E. coli or Salmonella
- They led to two deaths and 643 diseases
- Involved in 22 outbreaks/recalls
- 13,744,438 pounds of it was recalled
- Onions
- Usually contaminated with Salmonella
- Led to zero deaths and 2,617 diseases
- Involved in 22 outbreaks/recalls
- 13,744,438 pounds of it was recalled
- Turkey
- Usually contaminated with Salmonella
- Led to one death and 398 diseases
- Involved in four outbreaks/recalls
- 389,650 pounds of it was recalled
- Chicken
- Usually contaminated with Salmonella
- It led to two deaths and 190 diseases
- Involved in four outbreaks/recalls
- 195,061 pounds of it was recalled
- Papayas
- Usually contaminated with Salmonella
- They led to two deaths and 332 diseases
- Involved in 12 outbreaks/recalls
- 600,974 pounds of it was recalled
- Peaches
- Usually contaminated with Salmonella
- It led to two deaths and 332 diseases
- Involved in 12 outbreaks/recalls
- 113,062,324 pounds of it was recalled
- Cantaloupe
- Usually contaminated with Salmonella
- Caused 0 deaths and 302 diseases
- Involved in four outbreaks/recalls
- 279,205 retail units and 946-gallon tubs were recalled
- Flour
- Usually contaminated with Salmonella or E. coli
- Led to 0 deaths and 44 diseases
- Involved in 22 outbreaks/recalls
- No data for the recalled amount
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