US Food Safety Under Pressure: Salmonella Egg Recall, Mexican Cattle Border Reopening and Widening Cyclospora Outbreak Test Federal Authorities

Three concurrent food safety and supply chain developments are testing US regulatory and public health systems simultaneously — a 1.5 million dozen egg recall linked to Salmonella, the reopening of the Mexican cattle border after a disease-driven closure, and a Cyclospora outbreak now spanning 28 states.

Midwest Poultry Services has voluntarily recalled 1,589,577 dozen white shell eggs and brown cage-free shell eggs produced at its Texas farms due to potential Salmonella Enteritidis contamination. The FDA and CDC are investigating a multistate Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak linked in part to the recalled eggs, with 98 people infected across 17 states, 26 hospitalisations, and no deaths reported. The recalled eggs were available at Kroger stores in Texas and Louisiana, Brookshire Grocery stores across six states, and other smaller retail outlets.

The USDA has announced a coordinated, phased reopening of southern cattle ports beginning August 24, 2026, starting with the Douglas, Arizona port of entry, following a year-long closure triggered by New World screwworm detections in Mexico. The USDA has tracked 42 confirmed cases of screwworm in the US since June 3, with only nine still active as of Friday. Every animal entering through reopened ports will undergo a full USDA inspection for screwworm signs.

Since May 1, the CDC has received reports of 1,645 confirmed domestic cyclosporiasis cases across 34 states, with over 5,100 additional cases requiring further analysis — substantially higher than the 249 cases reported nationally by the same date in 2025. On July 17, Taylor Farms de Mexico recalled all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico after epidemiological and traceback data confirmed the product as the contamination source.