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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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. 

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."