U.S. is Making Little Progress Toward 2030 Foodborne Illness Reduction Goals, Data Shows
Need to Know
- A new study by FDA, CDC, and USDA-FSIS researchers found that the U.S. has made “none to only very slight” progress toward Healthy People 2030 foodborne illness reduction targets
- Surveillance data as recent as 2024 showed increasing incidence of Campylobacter, Listeria monocytogenes, and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infections, while Salmonella incidence remained relatively unchanged
- The researchers emphasized that advances in diagnostic testing, changes in surveillance methods, and more rigorous target-setting approaches complicate comparisons of foodborne illness incidence and progress across Healthy People decades.
An analysis of foodborne illness surveillance data conducted by researchers from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) suggests that the U.S. has made “none to only very slight” progress toward its Healthy People 2030 goals for reducing foodborne illness caused by four major pathogens.
However, compared to previous decades, advances in diagnostic testing, pathogen surveillance, and target-setting methodology may contribute to what appears to be higher foodborne illness incidence and more limited progress toward Healthy People goals. The researchers acknowledged that Healthy People goal-setting has evolved to align with key regulations and methods for tracking progress have become more robust.
Published in the Journal of Food Protection, the study examined nearly four decades of progress toward national food safety objectives under the Healthy People initiative, focusing on infections caused by Campylobacter, Listeria monocytogenes, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), and Salmonella.
The researchers found that, although all four pathogen reduction targets were achieved under Healthy People 2000, progress has since slowed. Additionally, none of the Healthy People 2020 targets were met, and the most recent Healthy People 2030 surveillance data indicated worsening incidence of campylobacteriosis, listeriosis, and STEC infections, with no detectable change in salmonellosis incidence.
Progress Toward Healthy People Food Safety Goals Since 2000
The Healthy People initiative establishes national, science-based public health objectives with targets to be achieved over 10-year periods. Food safety objectives were first introduced under Healthy People 2000 and have continued through Healthy People 2030.
The researchers analyzed historical surveillance data, primarily from CDC's Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet), to evaluate progress toward pathogen-specific infection reduction targets across four decades.
According to the study, all four foodborne pathogen targets were met under Healthy People 2000. However, under Healthy People 2010, only the target for E. coli O157 was achieved. Although incidence of Campylobacter and L. monocytogenes infections decreased, the reductions fell short of their respective targets, while Salmonella incidence increased.
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During Healthy People 2020, incidence of Campylobacter, Salmonella, and STEC infections improved, but none of the four pathogen reduction targets were achieved. No detectable change in listeriosis incidence was observed.
The most recent Healthy People 2030 data, covering 2024 for three pathogens and 2023 for Campylobacter, showed (using a baseline based on 2016–2018 data):
- Campylobacter: Incidence increased from a baseline of 16.2 to 20.6 infections per 100,000 population, compared to a target of 10.9
- Salmonella: Incidence remained relatively unchanged, from 15.3 to 15.2 infections per 100,000 population, compared to a target of 11.5
- STEC: Incidence increased from 4.6 to 5.7 infections per 100,000 population, compared to a target of 3.7
- L. monocytogenes: Incidence increased from 0.27 to 0.36 infections per 100,000 population, compared to a target of 0.22.
Changes in Foodborne Illness Surveillance Complicate Comparisons
The researchers emphasized that changes in surveillance methods, diagnostic technologies, and target-setting approaches have complicated comparisons of foodborne illness incidence across Healthy People decades.
For example, Healthy People 2030 surveillance incorporated infections diagnosed using culture-independent diagnostic tests (CIDTs) and excluded travel-associated infections. Increased adoption of CIDTs has enabled the detection of infections that may have previously gone undiagnosed, potentially contributing to apparent increases in reported incidence.
Additionally, while earlier Healthy People objectives used single-year baseline infection rates, more recent objectives have relied on three-year pooled averages and more rigorous statistical approaches to establish targets.
The researchers noted that these methodological changes must be considered when interpreting apparent trends in foodborne illness incidence and evaluating progress toward national food safety goals.
Implications for Future Food Safety Goals
The study also highlighted the role of Healthy People objectives in informing federal food safety initiatives, including USDA-FSIS pathogen reduction performance standards and regulations developed under the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).
However, the researchers acknowledged that progress toward national foodborne illness reduction targets has remained limited, consistent with findings from a 2025 U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report.
Looking ahead, the Healthy People Food Safety Workgroup will consider challenges associated with surveillance data, changing diagnostic practices, and establishing reliable baselines when developing Healthy People 2040 objectives.
The researchers concluded that continued monitoring of foodborne illness incidence, alongside improvements in surveillance and target-setting methodologies, remains important for evaluating progress and guiding efforts to reduce foodborne disease in the U.S.
