PIRG wants FDA to do a better job with outbreak investigations

It’s not unusual for the Food and Drug Administration to close outbreak investigations without identifying a food source or posting a company recall notice, and that’s not good enough according to a consumer watchdog group.

The Education Fund of the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) says in its Food for Thought report that 60 percent of the outbreak investigations in 2025 did not have a product recall associated with them. Nearly half of the investigations did not find the source of the foodborne pathogen involved.