Safe Food Coalition Urges Congress to Lift FDA Traceability Freeze Until 2028 Amid 30,000 Cyclospora Cases
Updated
Updated · Food Safety News · Aug 14
Safe Food Coalition Urges Congress to Lift FDA Traceability Freeze Until 2028 Amid 30,000 Cyclospora Cases
3 articles · Updated · Food Safety News · Aug 14
Summary
A consumer and food-safety coalition asked congressional leaders to scrap a budget rider blocking FDA enforcement of its food traceability rule until July 2028, arguing the delay is worsening the Cyclospora crisis.
Nearly 30,000 illnesses and two deaths have been tied to the outbreak, and the group said lot-level tracking would let investigators identify contaminated produce faster and narrow recalls more precisely.
Taylor Farms, a major lettuce supplier, is central to the coalition’s case: one illness cluster was linked to a Mexico farm and facility that was temporarily shut last month, but the broader source remains unclear.
The coalition said the uncertainty is hitting produce demand beyond lettuce, with 40% of consumers changing buying habits, while retailers including Walmart, Kroger and Albertsons have already built traceability systems.
The FDA finalized the rule in 2022 after years of delay and had set compliance for Jan. 20, 2026, before the Trump administration-backed funding freeze pushed implementation off and, critics say, risked gutting the rule.