Fewer food recalls yet more Americans sickened in 2024 than previous year, says new report

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More Americans were sickened by contaminated food in 2024 than the previous year and the number of people who were hospitalized or died more than doubled, a new study has revealed.

The analysis, published this month by the Colorado-based U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) Education Fund, shows that hospitalizations and deaths from contaminated food increased last year compared to 2023.

In all, the United States had 296 food recall announcements in 2024, which is a 5% decrease from 2023, the U.S. PIRG Education Fund's analysis shows.

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Despite an overall decrease in recalls, though, more people were sickened by food-borne outbreaks in 2024, the data indicates.

"It's an indication that a lot of food was a lot more contaminated with higher concentrations of bacteria," Teresa Murray, director of the U.S. PIRG's consumer watchdog office, told Fox News Digital.

Although the number of food and beverage recalls decreased in 2024, more people were sickened from eating contaminated food than in 2023, according to a new report. (iStock)

The biggest threats stemmed from E. coli, listeria and salmonella.

Overall, contaminated food was linked to 1,392 total illnesses in 2024 – that's 274 more than the 1,118 sickened in 2023, according to the report.

Hospitalizations more than doubled from 230 in 2023 to 487 in 2024, as did reported deaths — from eight in 2023 to 19 in 2024, the analysis stated.

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Deaths in 2024 were associated with deli meat, cucumbers, onions, carrots, soft cheese, chocolate snacks with mushrooms, and ready-to-eat meat and poultry, according to the data.

There were notably more high-profile recalls in 2024.?

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which regulates meat, poultry and some fish and egg products, tallied 55 recalls in 2024 – a decline of 38% from 2023, the analysis stated.

Another 241 food and beverage recalls and alerts were issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2024 – an increase of 8% from the year before, the data shows.

McDonald's temporarily stopped serving Quarter Pounders because of an E. coli outbreak. (Photo Illustration by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Notably, there were more high-profile recalls in 2024, including McDonald's and Boar's Head.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in November that slivered onions served on McDonald's Quarter Pounder hamburgers were the probable source of an E. coli outbreak that prompted the fast-food restaurant chain to temporarily stop selling the menu item.

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That was the same month that SunFed Produce recalled all sizes of its whole fresh American cucumbers and Costco recalled more than 10,000 cartons of Kirkland Signature eggs amid salmonella concerns.

Two months earlier, a listeria outbreak among certain Boar's Head deli meats led to the discontinuation of liverwurst from its lineup of cold cuts. The outbreak was later linked to a Boar's Head facility in Virginia.

Boar's Head deli meats were recalled in 2024 amid a listeria outbreak linked to one of its facilities in Virginia. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

All but one of the 13 outbreaks in 2024 involved E. coli, listeria or salmonella, the U.S. PIRG Education Fund's data revealed.

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One factor that Murray believes contributed to the increased hospitalizations and deaths were the "time lags that we saw last year, in many cases, between when the first illnesses occurred and then when the recalls were announced."

Murray said she's hopeful the FDA and USDA can "create a format where somebody could get customized alerts" to their cellphones or emails. 

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Currently, anyone can sign up for every recall that is announced, but Murray said it creates "recall fatigue."

A customized recall notification system specific to a person's individual region or concerns, Murray said, might help others "actually take control of the information that they're getting and pay more attention to it."