Food Safety is Falling Apart and the Alarming Truth is We’re All at Risk

Every bite we take is a leap of faith—faith that the food on our plates is clean, tested, and safe. But as we mark World Food Safety Day on June 7, alarming developments suggest that this faith may be misplaced. Amid dramatic budget cuts and agency dismantlings by the Trump-Vance Administration, food safety oversight in the U.S. and around the globe is on shaky ground, and experts are sounding the alarm.

In recent months, a wave of layoffs and resignations has gutted critical departments at both the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). According to industry insiders, these cuts have directly impacted teams responsible for inspecting and testing our food supply. In a particularly chilling move, the FDA suspended a key quality control program for its food-testing labs, a program that ensured pathogens and contaminants were detected early and consistently.

“We are teetering on the brink of collapse,” said Sarah Sorscher, Director of Regulatory Affairs at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. And it’s not just domestic diners who should worry. The dismantling of USAID and the closure of the Feed the Future Innovation Labs, once pillars of global food security, mean reduced safety protocols across supply chains in places like Kenya, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Nigeria.

It’s easy to overlook food safety—until it fails. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates 600 million people globally fall ill each year from contaminated food, with 420,000 deaths, many of them children under five. The loss isn’t just human; it’s economic. In low- and middle-income nations, $110 billion is lost annually due to unsafe food. That’s a staggering toll—one we can’t afford.

As the climate crisis reshapes our environment, the risk multiplies. Warmer, wetter conditions are breeding grounds for emerging pathogens, from bacteria to harmful fungi. “Microbes love hot, humid conditions,” explained Barbara Kowalcyk, a food safety scholar at the Milken Institute School of Public Health.

Experts like Markus Lipp of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization stress that food safety isn’t just science—it’s social trust. “It’s about creating confidence in the food we eat and in the systems that protect us,” he said. That trust is eroding as policymakers in Washington appear to sideline the very science that safeguards our meals.

This World Food Safety Day, the WHO is urging governments, scientists, and everyday citizens to stand up and act. The 2022–2030 Global Strategy for Food Safety offers a roadmap, but implementation is what will determine whether people eat safely—or suffer. Programs like GAIN’s EatSafe and the Codex Alimentarius Commission provide science-based standards that respect local cultures. They are lifelines that need support, not sabotage.

“This is a global village,” said Dr. Abdou Tenkouano, former Executive Director of CORAF. “We are all interconnected, interdependent, interlinked.” His words ring louder now than ever. Because when food safety fails in one part of the world, it ripples through trade, economy, and public health everywhere.

So what can we do? Support science. Demand accountability. Prioritize food safety in policy discussions. Because the truth is, when it comes to food safety, no one eats alone—we’re all in this together.