(NewsNation) — Attorney William Marler, whose firm represents thousands of foodborne illness victims, says he’s hopeful 2025 is “way better” after a concerning number of recalls on food items in 2024.
“It’s been an extraordinarily bad year, not only for recalls but for foodborne illness outbreaks — and some pretty deadly ones,” Marler said on “Morning in America” Friday. “It’s unprecedented. I’ve been doing this kind of work for 31 years, 32 years, and I’ve just not seen this many outbreaks and this frequency in that period of time.”
Most recently, the Food and Drug Administration escalated a recall of eggs sold under the Kirkland Signature brand at Costco to the highest alert level because of possible salmonella exposure. No illnesses were immediately reported in this case.
In October, slivered onions in McDonald’s Quarter Pounder burgers were linked to an E. coli outbreak. One person died, and 10 were hospitalized because of it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the same month, Treehouse Foods issued an expanded recall on frozen pancake and waffle mixes, and Costco had to recall several meat-based products due to listeria concerns.
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And over the summer, Boar’s Head issued the largest recall in a decade over its deli meat after 59 cases of illness and 10 deaths.
A Gallup poll from earlier in the year showed Americans’ confidence in the federal government’s ability to ensure the safety of the U.S. food supply reached a record low amid these incidents. Only 57% of U.S. adults surveyed said they have a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence in the government — down 11 points from 2019.
“The technology nowadays for figuring these outbreaks out are pretty remarkable,” Marler noted. When it comes to the Boar’s Head recall, Marler said they found the exact same strain of listeria in multiple people’s bodies as they did in one of the company’s liverwurst products.
“It’s a pretty clear indicator that this company is responsible,” Marler said. “And that’s true for the McDonald’s case and all these other cases that you’re hearing about.”
People need to be able to trust food producers to keep putting out safe products. Consumers can also take steps to prevent illness, Marler added, by taking measures such as keeping hot things hot and cold things cold, washing their hands and cooking meats to the temperature prescribed by the United States Department of Agriculture.
“You can be safer, but we do rely on our food supply to be safe,” Marler said.
