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The FDA’s 2025 report says its Coordinated Outbreak Response, Evaluation, and Emergency Preparedness teams evaluated 69 incidents, initiated 26 responses and issued 11 public health advisories. The incidents included investigations involving cucumbers, prepared meals and powdered infant formula; the report also lists recalls and other enforcement actions. The figures describe different steps in the response process, not 69 confirmed outbreaks.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 2025 CORE+EP report says its investigative teams evaluated 69 incidents, initiated 26 responses and issued 11 public health advisories during the year. The figures cover potential and confirmed outbreaks, as well as certain adverse events, and do not mean that all 69 incidents were confirmed outbreaks or led to a full response.
The report describes work by the FDA’s Coordinated Outbreak Response, Evaluation, and Emergency Preparedness teams, known as CORE+EP. The team structure includes a Signals and Surveillance Team, which evaluates incidents, and four Response Teams that may take on follow-up when an incident appears linked to an FDA-regulated food. The report’s counts distinguish between incidents evaluated, responses initiated and advisories issued.
Among the investigations managed in 2025 were outbreaks involving Salmonella linked to cucumbers, Listeria monocytogenes linked to prepared meals, and infant botulism linked to powdered infant formula. The report’s table lists other products and investigations, including mini pastries, frozen shakes, eggs, pistachio cream, sprouted beans and moringa powder. It also records actions such as recall announcements, warning letters and import alerts. The FDA cautions that some investigations in the table began in 2024, even though an advisory was issued in 2025, and that the table is not a complete record of all agency activity.
The report also lists several products linked to illnesses for which no advisory was issued: mangoes, cilantro, parsley, spring mix and sprouts. The agency says that can happen when investigators lack sufficient information about the cause of illnesses during an ongoing public health risk; confirmed vehicles are reported on the FDA’s CORE Investigation Table.
How FDA Incident Counts Translate to Action
The figures show the scale of the agency’s screening and response work, while also illustrating that evaluation does not automatically lead to an advisory. Signals teams assess a wider set of potential events; only some are transferred to a response team, and public warnings are issued when the FDA determines that consumer advice is warranted.
For consumers, those distinctions matter because advisories and recall notices can provide actionable information about foods associated with an outbreak. The report says FDA may also recommend that companies voluntarily recall products confirmed to be associated with an outbreak. In some cases, the agency’s Office of Compliance and Enforcement may pursue further actions, including warning letters, seizures, injunctions or import alerts. These tools can affect product availability and business operations as well as public health.
The annual totals are a record of agency activity, not a direct measure of how many people became ill or how many outbreaks were prevented. The report says outbreak investigations and related work can lead to actions intended to prevent additional illnesses, but it does not quantify that effect.
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CORE+EP’s Expanded Role Since 2011
The FDA established CORE in 2011 as the Coordinated Outbreak Response Network. In October 2024, the agency expanded it to include an emergency preparedness team focused on food defense, traceability and supply-chain monitoring; the combined teams are now called CORE+EP.
The report describes the teams’ work as spanning disease surveillance, outbreak response, post-response activities and coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, state and local public health agencies, and international public health partners. Food safety investigations can involve multiple agencies because identifying a source may require combining illness reports with information about products and distribution.
Food Safety News noted that the 2025 report does not discuss the reported 2013 high of 137 incidents, compared with 69 in 2025. The supplied report material does not provide a detailed year-by-year comparison or explain the change in totals, so the 2025 count alone cannot establish why the number was lower.
“The work conducted by CORE during and following investigations of foodborne illness outbreaks and certain adverse events culminate in actions that can drive the prevention of additional illnesses and future outbreaks.”
— FDA 2025 CORE+EP report
What the Annual Totals Do Not Show
The report’s headline figures do not specify how many of the 69 evaluated incidents were confirmed outbreaks, how many involved adverse events, or how many people were affected. Nor do the totals explain why only 26 incidents became formal responses or why 11 advisories were issued. The source material provides no case-by-case explanation for every incident that did not proceed to those steps.
The FDA also does not provide, in the information summarized here, a detailed explanation for the difference between the 2025 figure and the 2013 count of 137 cited by Food Safety News. The reports’ categories, reporting practices and circumstances may differ, but no specific cause for the numerical change is established in the supplied material. Some actions may also continue after publication, and the FDA says the listed activity is not exhaustive.
Further Investigation and Enforcement
The FDA says additional activity may be ongoing for incidents listed in the report. Where investigations identify a food source or indicate continuing risk, the agency can issue advisories, recommend voluntary recalls and pursue compliance actions. The report does not set out a schedule for further updates or name a next milestone for the investigations described.
Consumers can follow FDA public health advisories and recall announcements for current product-specific guidance. Any new findings, confirmed outbreak vehicles or enforcement actions would depend on the progress of individual investigations.
Key Questions
Did the FDA confirm 69 foodborne outbreaks in 2025?
No. The report says CORE+EP evaluated 69 incidents, a category that includes potential and confirmed outbreaks and certain adverse events. It does not say all 69 were confirmed outbreaks.
How many responses and advisories did the teams issue?
The report records 26 initiated responses and 11 public health advisories in 2025. These are separate steps and are not equal to the total number of incidents evaluated.
Which major investigations are cited in the report?
The report highlights investigations involving Salmonella linked to cucumbers, Listeria linked to prepared meals, and infant botulism linked to powdered infant formula. Its table lists additional products and related actions.
Why were some illness-linked products not included in advisories?
The FDA says an advisory may not be issued when investigators do not have enough information about what is causing illnesses during the period of public health risk. The report lists mangoes, cilantro, parsley, spring mix and sprouts among products linked to illnesses without an advisory.
Does the report explain why the 2025 count was below the 2013 figure?
No explanation is provided in the supplied report material. Food Safety News cited 137 incidents in 2013 and 69 evaluated in 2025, but the available information does not establish what caused the difference.
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