How to Protect Yourself When Food Safety Oversight Is Being Weakened

A follow-up to last week’s article. Here’s what you can actually do to reduce risk at home and demand accountability.

Image from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA): Safe Food Handling

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Last week, I wrote about the Trump administration’s sweeping food safety rollbacks, which include massive FDA staff cuts, suspended inspections, disbanded advisory committees, and a broader effort to replace federal oversight with voluntary corporate compliance. Shortly after I published that article, it was announced that the FDA had suspended the Milk Safety Cooperative Program.

If you’ve never heard of it, this program was a cornerstone of how the FDA worked with states to ensure the safety of our milk supply. It helped monitor and verify that dairy products met basic public health standards, including things like pathogen testing, sanitation practices, and facility inspections. Without it, there’s less coordination, less oversight, and less assurance that our milk will meet the same safety standards it did a few months ago.

These kinds of cuts will likely lead to more foodborne illness outbreaks.

According to the CDC, foodborne illness already affects an estimated 48 million people in the U.S. each year—that’s 1 in 6 Americans. Of those, around 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die. These numbers are with federal oversight still in place. Experts warn that weakening inspections, surveillance programs, and regulatory enforcement (which are all currently being done) will almost certainly push those numbers higher.

The reality is, we can't currently rely on the same protections we once did. But that doesn’t mean we’re powerless. In moments like this, being informed is one of the most important things we can do. And taking small, practical steps to reduce risk in our own kitchens, while pushing for accountability on a larger scale, does make a difference.

So, What Can We Actually Do?

Whenever I post about a food safety standard being rolled back or eliminated, I get messages from people asking what they can do to keep their food safe.

While none of us can singlehandedly fix a gutted FDA, there are steps we can take to reduce risk in our homes and push for change at the policy level. Here’s where to start:

1. Strengthen Your Own Food Safety Practices

When federal oversight weakens, home habits matter more than ever. Here are some important food safety practices:

• Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds before and after handling food. Especially raw meat, poultry, seafood, or eggs.

• Wash produce thoroughly. Use clean, cool running water—no soap or detergent necessary.

  • Leafy greens & herbs: Rinse for 30–60 seconds, using just your hands or in a colander/salad spinner

  • Firm produce (apples, carrots, etc): Scrub with a clean brush under running water for 20–30 seconds

  • Berries, grapes, etc: Place in a colander and gently rinse for 30 seconds, turning them lightly

  • Root vegetables: Scrub well under running water for 30–60 seconds.

  • Those with inedible peels (melons, avocados, lemons): Even though you don’t eat the peel, rinse and scrub under water for 30 seconds before cutting to avoid transferring contaminants inside.

• Do not wash raw meat, fish, and eggs. Washing raw chicken and other meats does not clean them, and risks increasing exposure to pathogens. The only way to kill those pathogens is to cook chicken and other meats to their appropriate internal temperature.

• Avoid cross-contamination. Keep raw meat, poultry, and seafood separate from ready-to-eat foods, at the store, in the fridge, and during prep.

• Use a basic food thermometer. Like this one. Don’t just rely on sight or feel. Undercooked meat is one of the most common causes of foodborne illness. Here are the USDA-recommended minimum internal temperatures for common foods:

  • Chicken and turkey (whole or ground): 165°F (74°C)

  • Ground meats (beef, pork, lamb, veal): 160°F (71°C)

  • Beef, pork, lamb, and veal (steaks, chops, roasts): 145°F (63°C)
    (Let rest for at least 3 minutes before slicing or serving)

  • Fish and shellfish: 145°F (63°C)

  • Egg dishes: 160°F (71°C)

  • Leftovers and casseroles: 165°F (74°C)

• Pay attention to expiration dates. And avoid using dented, bulging, or rusted cans.

• Clean your refrigerator and kitchen surfaces regularly. Especially after storing or preparing raw animal products.

  • Wipe down kitchen counters, cutting boards, and utensils with hot, soapy water after each use.

  • Disinfect surfaces that have touched raw meat, poultry, seafood, or eggs using a kitchen sanitizer or a solution of 1 tablespoon of unscented liquid chlorine bleach in 1 gallon of water.

  • Clean your refrigerator shelves and drawers at least once a week, and immediately wipe up spills—especially from raw meats—to prevent cross-contamination.

• Avoid high risk foods. Some foods are more likely to carry harmful bacteria or viruses, so you may want to be more cautious with them:

  • Raw sprouts

  • Unwashed fresh produce

  • Raw or undercooked meat or poultry

  • Raw or undercooked fish, especially shellfish

  • Unpasteurized (raw) milk

  • Soft cheeses made from unpasteurized milk

  • Foods with raw or undercooked eggs

  • Hot dogs, deli meats, or pâtés that haven’t been reheated to 165°F

  • Raw flour products, like cookie dough

2. Be Thoughtful About Where You Shop

With fewer federal inspections and oversight, it becomes more important to understand where your food is coming from and how it's handled. While no place is risk-free, some environments offer more transparency and control than others.

Here are a few tangible ways to shop more safely:

• Buy from retailers and brands with strong safety reputations. Look for companies that publicly share food safety protocols, recall response practices, or third-party certifications.

• Ask questions at farmers markets. Many local producers follow rigorous safety practices, even if they’re not federally mandated. Don’t be afraid to ask how they wash produce, handle meat and dairy, or store food during transport.

• Be mindful at bulk bins and salad bars. These can pose a higher risk if not cleaned or maintained properly.

• Buy pasteurized products. In the U.S. pasteurization is the industry standard, so products, like dairy, do not need to say they are pasteurized, but they do need to disclose if they are not pasteurized. Avoid products labeled “raw” or “unpasteurized.”

• Check sell-by and use-by dates. This is especially important on perishable items like deli meats, dairy, and prepared foods.

• Use your senses and judgment. If a store smells strongly of spoiled food or you notice broken refrigeration units, avoid purchasing products.

Remember that being thoughtful doesn’t mean being fearful. It’s more about being informed and aware. You don’t need to overhaul your entire food routine. But small changes in where and how you shop can reduce your risk, especially when federal oversight is weakening.

3. Stay Informed

Federal recalls and safety alerts are one of the last lines of defense between contaminated food and your kitchen. Even as inspections are rolled back and oversight weakens, these agencies still monitor outbreaks, issue public health alerts, and coordinate recalls when contamination is detected.

That means staying informed can help you act faster, including pulling a product from your fridge before anyone eats it, or avoiding something on store shelves before it’s removed.

You don’t need to obsessively check every agency site. But subscribing to email alerts or following a few trusted sources can keep you in the loop:

• FDA Recalls & Safety Alerts

• USDA Recalls and Public Health Alerts

• CDC Food Safety

• Food Safety News

• FoodSafety.gov

4. Demand Accountability

This is the part most often overlooked, but it’s the most powerful.

Individual actions in your kitchen matter. But without systemic safeguards, we’re all operating in a riskier food environment. And that’s why holding policymakers accountable matters so much.

• Call or email your representatives and ask them to oppose cuts to food safety programs and FDA funding. These programs protect everyone, but especially those most vulnerable to foodborne illness, including children, older adults, pregnant individuals, and those with compromised immune systems.

  • Download the 5 Calls app to find your elected officials based on your location or call the Capitol switchboard directly at (202) 224-3121. Ask to be connected to your senator or House representative’s office. When you’re connected, say something like:

  “Hi, my name is [Your Name], and I’m a constituent. I’m calling to urge [Representative/Senator Name] to oppose any cuts to FDA funding and food safety programs. These protections are essential for public health, and weakening them puts all of us at greater risk.”

  You don’t have to say much. Just make your voice heard. One call might not change everything, but hundreds or thousands of calls do.

• Push back on misinformation that frames regulation as "bureaucratic overreach" or suggests that corporations can adequatelt regulate themselves. These protections exist because we’ve seen what happens without them, including higher rates of illness, injury, and death from contaminated food. Federal oversight strengthens food safety and helps keep pathogens out of things like school lunches, deli counters, and baby formula.

We can’t afford to not pay attention to what is happening with federal oversight of food safety right now. Because the more we normalize or stay quiet in the face of weakened oversight, the more we risk turning back the clock to a time when foodborne illness, fraud, and contamination were a regular part of daily life.