The federal-state collaboration that oversees foodborne illness monitoring discreetly diminished its operations nearly two months ago.
As of July 1st, the Food Surveillance for Active Foodborne Diseases (FoodNet) program has slashed its surveillance efforts to just two pathogens: Salmonella and Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli (STEC), according to a spokesperson from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as reported by NBC News.
Prior to this, the program was monitoring infections from six additional pathogens: Campylobacter, Cyclospora, Listeria, Shigella, Vibrio, and Yersinia. Some of these pathogens can trigger particularly severe or life-threatening diseases, especially in vulnerable populations such as newborns, pregnant individuals, or those with compromised immune systems.
While states involved in the program are no longer obligated to track the six pathogens, they are still allowed to conduct their own surveillance.
Food safety experts express concern that this underreported decision may hinder public health officials from recognizing trends in foodborne diseases.
FoodNet operates as a partnership between the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Agriculture, and ten state health departments, covering a surveillance area that includes about 54 million people, or 16% of the U.S. population.
A CDC representative commented, “FoodNet’s primary focus will remain on Salmonella and we will uphold both the infrastructure and the quality of our representation.”
A document shared with Connecticut’s Department of Public Health, as reported by NBC News, indicates that “funding does not align with the resources necessary to sustain comprehensive FoodNet surveillance for all eight pathogens.”
On Monday, a CDC spokesperson mentioned that other systems continue to perform national surveillance for the six pathogens removed from FoodNet. For instance, state health departments can still report cases through the National Notification Disease Surveillance System. Additionally, the CDC’s Listeria Initiative gathers laboratory-confirmed cases of listeriosis, a serious infection caused by consuming Listeria-contaminated food.
Nonetheless, food safety experts stress that FoodNet is the only active federal surveillance system monitoring multiple foodborne diseases. Other federal systems rely on passive reporting, meaning that the CDC depends on state health departments to notify them of cases.
Experts fear that without proactive monitoring of all eight pathogens, public health officials might struggle to accurately compare trends over time or to detect increases in specific diseases. There are also concerns that a reduction in FoodNet operations could hinder rapid responses to outbreaks.
Barbara Kowalcyk, director of the Institute for Food Safety and Nutrition Security at George Washington University, described the decision to cut FoodNet surveillance as “very disappointing.”
“The work that I and countless others have devoted over the past two to three decades to enhance food safety is now at risk,” she stated. Kowalcyk’s advocacy for improved U.S. food safety policy arose after the death of her son from complications linked to foodborne E. coli infections in 2001.
Kowalcyk emphasized that federal food safety funding has failed to keep pace with inflation, and cuts to state health department funding likely impede the ability to sustain FoodNet surveillance. The CDC has requested $72 million for the Food Safety Budget for the fiscal years 2026 and 2024.
It remains unclear how the changes to FoodNet will impact monitoring at the state level.
The health departments of Oregon and Connecticut acknowledged awareness of the recent changes on Monday, while the Georgia Department of Public Health noted it had not yet received official updates from the CDC. Meanwhile, the New Mexico Health Department is awaiting notification from the CDC to clarify the future scope of surveillance.
The Maryland Department of Health indicated that their reporting will continue “regardless of the changes to the FoodNet network,” as state health providers and clinical laboratories must report cases for all eight pathogens monitored by FoodNet.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment warned that if funding decreases in 2026, it may have to scale back active surveillance for some pathogens.
Source: www.nbcnews.com
