1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

Congress needs to get serious about food safety by requiring FDA, CDC, and USDA to fully rebuild the food safety systems this administration has dismantled. The Cyclospora outbreak that just ended sickened over 18,000 people, hospitalized nearly 1,000, and killed two. That is a fifteen-fold increase over last year, and it does not happen without cause. The cause is clear. FDA, CDC, and USDA have lost roughly 20%, 25%, and 27% of their workforces respectively. CDC once had 11 scientists tracking food parasites and now has three. The administration halted three USDA Cyclospora research projects in August, during the largest such outbreak on record. Foreign food safety inspections have fallen to historic lows, and the FDA's Food Traceability Rule was delayed until 2028. These are the specific failures that let outbreaks grow before anyone can stop them. I want my representative to push for legislation requiring these agencies to return to pre-cut staffing and funding levels, with mandatory timelines for compliance. Food should nourish people, not make them sick. Right now these agencies cannot do the jobs they exist to do, and Congress has the power to fix that.