Two of the largest foodborne illness outbreaks in the United States this summer trace back to produce grown outside the country, and both arrived through an import system the federal government inspects at a fraction of the rate Congress set.
The jalapeño Salmonella outbreak, linked to peppers from Sinaloa, Mexico, has sickened 345 people across 27 states with 36 hospitalizations and no deaths. Cyclosporiasis has surged nationally since May, with the CDC reporting more than 10,000 laboratory-confirmed domestically acquired cases and aware of thousands more still under investigation, making this the largest such season in U.S. records.
