The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has overseen a string of major food recalls in 2026, ranging from fresh produce linked to outbreak investigations to nationwide withdrawals of products sold at some of the country's largest retailers. Several recalls have been tied to multistate outbreaks involving cyclospora, E. coli and salmonella, prompting warnings from federal health officials and widespread product removals from store shelves. The FDA and public health officials have responded to several major food safety events involving products sold by some of the country's largest food companies.
Among the most significant were the recall of Taylor Farms shredded iceberg lettuce linked to a multistate cyclospora outbreak that sickened thousands, a nationwide blueberry recall over contamination concerns, egg recalls that affected consumers across multiple states, and a jalapeño recall over salmonella concerns. While dozens of FDA-regulated products have been recalled this year, a handful stand out because of their size, the number of states affected, or their connection to foodborne illness outbreaks. Newsweek reached out to the FDA via email for comment.
Arguably the highest-profile food recall of 2026 so far involved Taylor Farms and a nationwide cyclospora outbreak linked to shredded iceberg lettuce. In July, FDA investigators identified Taylor Farms de Mexico lettuce as the likely source of a multistate outbreak of cyclosporiasis that sickened thousands and killed two in Michigan. The company voluntarily removed iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico from the U.S. market after traceback and epidemiological evidence converged on the product.
Taylor Farms stresses, though, that as of August 13, "there are no confirmed positive sample results for product testing for Cyclospora," according to the FDA. Subsequent FDA reports showed that the recalled lettuce products were pulled from distribution in over 30 U.S. states. The recalled products reached major retailers and food-service companies, including Walmart's Marketside brand and suppliers to Subway and Taco Bell.
The outbreak became one of the year's largest food-safety investigations and intensified public scrutiny of produce safety and outbreak-response procedures. Another major recall involved frozen organic blueberries sold at Publix stores in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. In July, the FDA announced an outbreak investigation involving E. coli and frozen GreenWise-brand organic blueberries.
Publix recalled multiple blueberry and mixed-berry products after investigators linked illnesses to the frozen fruit. The recall eventually expanded beyond a single product lot. Consumers in eight states were advised not to eat recalled GreenWise Organic Frozen Whole Blueberries and GreenWise Organic Whole Mixed Berries and to discard any affected products.
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