UK Food Safety Incidents Increased 14 Percent in 2025–26
The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) reported that food and feed safety incidents increased 14 percent during 2025–26, with growing complexity driven by global supply chains, cross-border distribution, and online marketplaces. According to the latest annual report, FSA managed 2,073 food and feed safety incidents across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland during the reporting period.
Alongside the overall increase in incidents, the proportion classified as high- and medium-priority also continued to rise. FSA attributed the trend to increasingly interconnected food systems and more complex investigations that often require coordination across multiple government agencies and international partners. Outbreaks and clusters of foodborne illness remain among the agency's most resource-intensive activities, with advances such as whole genome sequencing (WGS) improving outbreak detection while also extending the scope and duration of investigations.
During the year, FSA processed approximately 12,700 intelligence signals related to potential food safety risks, resulting in 51 new incidents or product referrals requiring action or product removal, as well as hundreds of referrals to local authorities and other government organizations.
Microbial Contamination Incidents
Pathogenic microorganisms remained the most frequently reported hazard category. Incidents involving pathogens slightly declined from 451 in 2023–24 to 413 in 2025–26, largely because certain animal disease events are no longer recorded as food safety incidents. Salmonella accounted for half of all pathogen-related incidents (206), followed by Listeria (92) and Escherichia coli (57). The agency also recorded 54 foodborne disease outbreaks or clusters of interest during 2025–26, representing an 18 percent decrease from the previous year. FSA cautioned that fewer outbreaks do not necessarily reflect fewer illnesses or less complex investigations.
Allergen Incidents
Allergen incidents remained the second most common hazard category. The report noted that an apparent increase in labeling incidents primarily reflects changes to the agency's new incident reporting system, which now allows multiple hazard categories to be assigned to a single incident. Analysis conducted by FSA also found no evidence that food allergy alerts follow predictable seasonal patterns.
Shift Toward Preventive Risk Management
To address increasingly complex risks, FSA said it is continuing to shift from a primarily reactive incident response model toward one focused on prevention, preparedness, and intelligence-led risk management. Initiatives include expanded use of root cause analysis, implementation of the PRISM incident case management system, increased emergency response capacity, and development of AI-assisted incident triage tools.
As part of its multi-year "FSA Ready" transformation program, the agency also plans to establish a new Food System Resilience Directorate and a centralized Risk and Intelligence Hub to strengthen early identification of emerging food system risks and improve coordination with domestic and international partners. According to the report, these changes are intended to improve prevention, prioritization, and resilience while maintaining the agency's regulatory response capabilities.
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