The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released its 2025 CORE+EP Annual Report on October 6, 2026, summarizing investigations of foodborne illness outbreaks and certain adverse events involving FDA-regulated foods. The report highlights major investigations, public health actions, and new resources for sharing outbreak findings.
Summary
In 2025, FDA evaluated 69 incidents, initiated 26 responses, and issued 11 public health advisories. Overall activity was similar to recent years:
How much involved Produce?
Among the 17 responses with an identified food source, six involved produce-vegetables, representing approximately 35%. These included cucumbers, frozen sprouted beans, cilantro, parsley, spring mix, and sprouts. Vegetables remained the largest individual food category, followed by multi-ingredient foods at 29%.
The vegetable share was lower than in 2024, when vegetables accounted for 11 of 20 responses with an identified food source, or 55%. This is a year-to-year decrease, but it does not establish a sustained decline in vegetable-associated foodborne illness.
Expanded resources for sharing investigation findings
In September 2025, FDA introduced two resources to make more information from completed investigations available to industry, researchers, and the public.
Executive Incident Summary (EIS) Abstracts provide summaries of individual investigations after they close. They describe the evidence gathered during the response, including epidemiological information, laboratory findings, and traceback activities. The collection includes investigations where a food source was identified and those where the source remained unknown, providing visibility into both findings and unresolved questions.
The abstracts also document coordination among federal, state, and local partners. Information is redacted to comply with disclosure laws and protect confidential commercial information and personally identifiable information.
Foodborne Outbreak Overview of Data (FOOD) Reports examine food–pathogen combinations associated with repeated outbreaks. They bring together historical epidemiological data, laboratory analyses, traceback findings, and post-response prevention activities across multiple investigations.
Read the full FDA CORE+EP 2025 Annual Report.
If you have any questions about the report or would like additional information, please contact Gustavo Reyes at [email protected].