May: Are You Okay?
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. I want to open with that and not bury it under a hundred pounds of recall data.
Food safety work is heavy in normal months. May 2026 was not a normal month. If you spent the last four weeks chasing lot codes across a dairy ingredient cascade that touches a meaningful share of the dried milk in the country, sitting on calls with QA leads who haven’t slept, or explaining to a sales VP why “trace amounts” still triggers a recall; that’s a load. The question is not rhetorical.
So before the receipts, just check in. With your team. With yourself. Then we’ll get into the month.
The story of May: California Dairies Inc.
The dominant story is dried milk powder. On April 20, 2026, California Dairies Inc. voluntarily recalled bulk powdered milk and buttermilk distributed to multiple wholesale distributors and manufacturers for potential Salmonella contamination, per FDA’s Major Product Recalls hub. Per CDI’s own recall announcement, the volumes were 2,679,357 pounds of low-heat nonfat dry milk and 19,841 pounds of buttermilk powder. CDI says the cooperative produces roughly 40% of the United States’ total milk powder; that’s the company’s own self-reported figure, not a regulator-published share. Either way, the cascade was always going to be wide. FDA opened a Major Product Recalls hub specifically for this event; FSIS issued public health alert PHA-04302026-01 on April 30, 2026 covering meat and poultry products that used the recalled ingredient.
The downstream list keeps growing. As of mid-May, confirmed brands in the cascade include Ghirardelli powdered beverage mixes; Utz Quality Foods’ voluntary recall of nine SKUs across the Zapp’s and Dirty potato chip brands (per Utz’s FDA recall notice); John B. Sanfilippo and Son brands Fisher, Squirrel Brand, Southern Style Nuts, and Good & Gather snack mixes; Pork King Good sour cream and onion pork rinds and seasoning; Sugar Foods’ Kroger Homestyle Cheese Garlic Croutons distributed to Kroger stores in 17 states (per the FDA recall notice); and Legacy Snack Solutions’ Giant Eagle Baked Pita Chips distributed across Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, West Virginia, and Indiana (per the FDA recall notice). Per FSIS’s May 15 update, no illnesses have been reported in connection with any of the downstream recalls, which is the only piece of good news here.
Obviously, this is the cascade FSMA 204 was written for. The Food Traceability Rule’s compliance deadline was extended to July 20, 2028; FDA first proposed the extension in August 2025, and Congress then codified it through the Continuing Appropriations Act of 2026 (P.L. 119-37, Div. B), which bars FDA from spending funds to enforce earlier. The requirements themselves did not change. CDI is the first real-world stress test of lot-level ingredient traceability at this scale. Manufacturers who had it wired up moved fast; those who didn’t are still mapping exposure three weeks in.
Active outbreaks
CDC’s Active Investigations page logs multistate foodborne investigations weekly; as of mid-to-late May 2026, that included roughly a dozen-plus open investigations across Salmonella, Listeria, E. coli, and Campylobacter. A few are worth a closer look.
Crawford Sausage headcheese (Illinois)
FSIS issued a public health alert on May 9 for Daisy Brand headcheese (a label brand on Crawford Sausage Co.’s headcheese, unrelated to the Daisy Brand sour cream out of Garland, TX) produced January 20, 2026, establishment 21406. Whole genome sequencing confirmed the match to the outbreak strain on May 14. Three confirmed cases in Illinois; distribution covered Illinois and Indiana retail delis. FSIS did not request a recall because the products are no longer available for purchase. The investigation is still open. WGS confirmation without a recall is the situation to watch.
La Serranita concha negra Hep A
FDA issued a safety alert for La Serranita-brand concha negra (black shell) fresh frozen shell meat from Ecuador. Hepatitis A contamination. Per FDA’s May 22 current update, distribution covered Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Illness onsets ran from July 2025 through February 2026, which is a long shadow. NYSDOH initially notified FDA; NYC DOHMH, NYSDOH, and NY State Department of Environmental Conservation are jointly investigating the cluster.
The Kebab Shop E. coli O157:H7 (California)
Per CDPH, as reported by Food Safety News and Marler Clark, CDPH is investigating nine cases of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O157:H7 across multiple California counties. Six of the nine are children. Five hospitalizations. Two HUS cases. Beef kofta is the suspected vehicle, with illness onsets running March 27 to April 30, 2026. Per CDPH, the chain stopped all sales of beef kofta nationwide on May 18 after CDPH linked the product as a potential source. Active investigation as of May 22.
Backyard poultry Salmonella (multistate)
CDC updated on May 14. Three separate outbreaks combined, 184 cases across 31 states as of May 4, and per CDC’s investigation page, of 154 people with information available, 53 (34%) have been hospitalized. One death in a person from Washington state. More than a quarter of cases are children under five. The strain breakdown per CDC: Saintpaul at 133 cases, Enteritidis at 32, Mbandaka at 19. Patients in the Saintpaul outbreak have more frequently reported contact with Pekin ducks and ducklings, in contrast to prior backyard poultry outbreaks where most cases involved chicks and chickens. CDC says these outbreak strains have been linked to five hatcheries, which it has not identified publicly. The outbreak is ongoing.
Raw Farm raw cheddar (callback)
The Raw Farm raw cheddar E. coli O157:H7 outbreak was declared over on April 30, 2026, per CDC. Final count: 9 cases across 3 states, 3 hospitalizations, 1 HUS, 0 deaths. Over half of cases were children under five. I’m including it here as a callback because the pattern matters. Raw dairy outbreaks keep finding kids, and the cases skew young in a way that doesn’t show up the same way in other categories.
Enforcement
Abuelito Cheese guilty plea
Per the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, as reported by Cheese Reporter and Food Safety News, on May 21, 2026 in Newark federal court, Abuelito Cheese Inc. pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cari Fais to introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce. The chain on this one matters. FDA inspected the Paterson, NJ facility from January 14 to February 6, 2020 and found Listeria grayi and Listeria innocua, both non-pathogenic Listeria species, on environmental swabs. On June 4, 2020, FDA issued warning letter CMS #605472, which explicitly stated the presence of Listeria spp. indicated conditions conducive to Listeria monocytogenes and called out that the company swabbed for ATP and coliforms but not for Listeria.
From October 20, 2020 to March 17, 2021, 13 people across four states were sickened in the outbreak strain investigation. Per CDC’s archived data: 12 hospitalizations and 1 death in Maryland. On February 19, 2021, the Connecticut State Laboratory confirmed via WGS that the outbreak strain matched El Abuelito queso fresco. Per trade press reporting on the DOJ announcement, sentencing is scheduled for October 15, 2026, with a maximum penalty of 5 years probation and a $500,000 fine (or twice the gross gain or loss).
If you’re reading this and your environmental program tests ATP and coliforms but not pathogens, this is the cautionary tale. FDA wrote it down in a warning letter; the company kept producing; people died; the company is now a federal defendant.
FSVP warning letters
FDA issued FSVP warning letters to Greenworld Food Express LLC in Taylor, MI on April 24, 2026, and Life Plus Style Gourmet LLC in Plainview, NY on March 5, 2026. Both were cited for failing to develop, maintain, or follow Foreign Supplier Verification Programs for imported foods. FDA explicitly cited potential for DWPE, detention without physical examination, if non-compliance continues. For importers, that’s the threat that actually changes behavior. Your product sitting at port is a cost center nobody wants on a weekly P&L.
DO&CO airline catering
FDA issued a warning letter to DO&CO Aktiengesellschaft/DO&CO, Inc. on March 30, 2026, citing recurring Listeria monocytogenes findings on direct food-contact surfaces and in RTE finished products across four airline catering facilities. The letter references inspections during 2024 and 2025 and notes that whole genome sequence analysis of environmental isolates from the facilities revealed twelve L. monocytogenes strains, with five strains found in a single facility in both years. One strain matched clinical isolates, which is the line that should make every QA lead read it twice.
The trend
Food Safety News reported in May 2026 that FDA warning letters to food manufacturers and importers are trending upward; the underlying database is FDA’s, but the trend framing is Food Safety News’s reporting. The education-while-we-regulate cycle is shortening. Repeat violations are moving to formal enforcement faster than they used to. If you’ve been treating warning letters as a corrective-action exercise with no real downstream consequence, the gap between letter and prosecution is closing.
Regulatory
Diamantas, BHT, and ADA
Per HHS’s leadership listing, Kyle Diamantas was named acting FDA commissioner on May 12, 2026. He previously served as Deputy Commissioner for Food, leading FDA’s Human Foods Program. Same day, FDA finalized its food chemical post-market assessment program and launched reassessments of BHT and ADA. Per FDA, BHT shows up in breakfast cereals, frozen pizza, frozen meals, baking mixes, cookies, chewing gum, and meat products, where it prevents spoilage of fats and oils. ADA is authorized as an aging and bleaching ingredient in cereal flour and as a dough conditioner in breadmaking, with applications in food contact materials.
For context on ADA’s status overseas: ADA is not authorized as a food additive in the EU under Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, and the EU restricted its use in plastics as food contact materials in 2005 following EFSA review. That’s the actual posture; the often-repeated “banned in food since 2005” framing collapses two different regulatory pieces. Public comment on both U.S. RFIs (FDA-2026-N-2526 for BHT and FDA-2026-N-4126 for ADA) closes July 13, 2026. If you make anything that uses either ingredient, this is the comment window to be in.
FSMA 204 update
The Food Traceability Rule’s compliance deadline was extended to July 20, 2028; FDA first proposed the extension in August 2025, and Congress codified it through the Continuing Appropriations Act of 2026 (P.L. 119-37, Div. B), which bars FDA from spending funds to enforce earlier. Requirements are unchanged. FDA is hosting a virtual public meeting on June 15, 2026 specifically on lot-level traceability and flexibilities for compliance. The extension is not a permission slip to stop building; it’s runway to build it right.
FSIS reorganization
Announced April 23, 2026. FSIS is establishing a National Food Safety Center in Urbandale, Iowa, with approximately 200 D.C. positions relocating. The frontline inspection workforce, which is 85% of employees and covers 6,800-plus regulated establishments, is not affected. The criticism is on the back-office side. Sandra Eskin, CEO of Stop Foodborne Illness and former USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety, has raised brain drain concerns publicly. The question is not whether inspectors will be in plants; they will. The question is whether the policy and epidemiology bench in D.C. survives a cross-country move.
State-level activity
California
CDPH issued consumer warning NR26-021 on May 19, advising against Brad’s Plant Based Crunchy Kale and Salad Snack varieties after lab tests showed elevated thallium levels. CDPH says the manufacturer was asked to voluntarily recall the products and has refused; this is an advisory only. Separately, the California wild mushroom poisoning outbreak reached 47 cases, 4 deaths, and at least 4 liver transplants as of May 11, per CDPH’s CAHAN advisory. CDPH calls the outbreak unprecedented, and news outlets citing experts and CDPH are describing it as the largest known deadly wild mushroom poisoning outbreak in U.S. history.
Oklahoma
HB 3720, the Local Food Freedom Act, was signed on May 7, 2026 (per the Governor’s office and the Oklahoma House). It raises the home food sales cap from $75,000 to $250,000 and takes effect November 1, 2026. The state continues its push to expand cottage food limits. Whether that ends well depends on how seriously county health departments staff up to keep eyes on it.
West Virginia
The state’s food dye ban, HB 2354, remains blocked by a federal preliminary injunction out of the Southern District of West Virginia. HB 4852, a bill to address the conflict, did not advance in the state Senate this session. The school-meal portion, in effect since August 1, 2025, remains operative.
EPR deadlines
Producer report filings are due May 31, 2026 in Oregon, Colorado, Minnesota, Maryland, and Washington. In California, producer registration and 2023 baseline supply data are due June 1, 2026 to CalRecycle and the Circular Action Alliance; the source-reduction report is due May 31. Packaging recordkeeping now sits inside the same document control program as your food safety records for any brand selling in those states. If your QA team and your sustainability team are still on separate filing systems, that’s the consolidation conversation to have in June.
Industry
Danone is closing its Bridgeton, NJ Silk and So Delicious plant on August 4, 2026, per a WARN notice filed with the NJ Department of Labor as reported by Food Dive and NJBIZ. Approximately 114 workers. Production is shifting to Dallas, Mt. Crawford (VA), and Jacksonville (FL). Plant-based dairy is contracting; Circana reported a 3% year-over-year decline in plant-based milk dollar sales (52 weeks ending September 7, 2025), with unit sales down sharper. The segment is consolidating around fewer facilities, and Danone’s move is consistent with the broader retreat.
Del Monte Foods’ bankruptcy is forcing California peach farmers to destroy approximately 420,000 clingstone peach trees across roughly 3,000 acres (per Senator Adam Schiff’s April 28 release). Per Fortune’s reporting, the Modesto plant processed 30 to 35% of California clingstone peach production under long-term supply contracts; when the buyer goes, the orchards go with it. USDA has approved up to $9 million to support the tree removal. That’s a multi-decade asset getting bulldozed because the offtake disappeared.
USDA announced on April 23, 2026 (Press Release No. 0057.26) that it would begin decommissioning the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center and relocating research programs to facilities across the country. Food Safety News reports the Environmental Microbial and Food Safety Laboratory is among the units affected. Critics warn this reduces USDA’s pathogen detection and outbreak investigation research capacity, and Congress had attempted to slow the move through fiscal year 2026 appropriations language requiring committee approval to close research facilities. We’re losing federal lab capacity in the same window FSIS is moving its policy bench to Iowa. Consider the timing.
June watchlist
A short list of what I’ll be tracking next month.
The CDI cascade isn’t closed yet. FDA’s hub was last updated May 8, but the agency notes additional downstream customer recalls may still come and trade press has reported items not yet posted to the hub. Check FDA’s Major Product Recalls hub before any regulatory or supplier decisions.
BHT and ADA RFI comments close July 13, 2026. If you have a position, this is the window.
FDA’s virtual public meeting on lot-level traceability is June 15, 2026.
Crawford Sausage Listeria investigation has WGS confirmation but no formal recall. Watch for escalation.
Are you okay?
Back to where we started. If you spent May tracing lot codes, pulling supplier COAs, building exposure maps from ingredient declarations, and explaining recall cascades to people who didn’t know what dry milk powder was three weeks ago; you did real work. The kind of work that doesn’t show up in a quarterly earnings call but stands between somebody’s kid and a hospital bed.
Check in with your team. Check in with yourself. The receipts in this issue are heavy because the month was heavy, and a heavy month landing on a workforce that’s already running thin is not something we should pretend is normal. Take the walk. Eat the lunch. Close the laptop at a reasonable hour at least once this week.
June is already moving. We’ll meet it. Just don’t meet it empty.