U.S. reliance on Mexican produce highlights food safety and FDA oversight concerns

A pair of recent foodborne illness outbreaks have exposed a critical failure at the heart of North America's food system: the United States is increasingly relying on Mexico's produce industry while regulators are straining to oversee it to keep consumers safe.

Taylor Farms, a $7 billion company supplying fast-food chains, major distributors and grocers, recalled prepared products containing jalapenos this week after U.S. authorities linked a salmonella outbreak that has sickened several hundred people to peppers imported from Mexico. It followed a major cyclosporiasis outbreak, traced to iceberg lettuce Taylor Farms imported from Mexico, that made more than 6,300 people sick and caused two deaths.

The back-to-back incidents have revived concerns over the FDA's ability to oversee imported food, experts say. U.S. Food and Drug Administration employment fell by 22% in 2026 compared to 2024, according to agency data, in part due to workforce cuts since Donald Trump returned to the White House. Foreign food-facility inspections by the FDA fell by nearly 13% in fiscal 2025, while imports have continued to rise.

"Without question, the cuts are harmful to food safety," said Jennifer McEntire, founder of the U.S.-based Food Safety Strategy consultancy, as is "having decreased oversight to what's actually happening as outbreaks occur."

The FDA did not respond to a request for comment.

The U.S. imported less than $3 billion in agricultural products from Mexico in 1993, the year before the North American Free Trade Agreement took effect, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. That level has increased by nearly 1,500% through 2025.

Mexico now accounts for more than 20% of all U.S. food imports, according to Luis Ribera, an agricultural economy expert at Texas A&M University. The U.S. imported $16.1 billion in fresh produce in 2025, according to a university analysis.

"We don't have to wait for products to be in season for us to consume it year-round," said Ribera. "Having those partners is very important for the affordability of food here in the U.S."

Yet the same supply chains that keep U.S. grocery shelves stocked have also periodically exposed consumers to foodborne illness.

U.S. food safety investigations over the last two decades have traced outbreaks to imported Mexican fruit and vegetables, including peppers, cantaloupes, cilantro and leafy greens.

The outbreaks have prompted scrutiny of irrigation water, sanitation practices and food-safety controls across the fragmented networks of growers, packers and distributors. The FDA has imposed safeguards in some regions, though those exporters, growers and processors in Mexico are already subject to U.S. food-safety requirements.

However, there is no uniform certification policy requiring all Mexican produce suppliers to demonstrate their irrigation water is safe before exporting to the U.S., experts said.

Cristobal Chaidez, a food-safety researcher at Mexico's National Laboratory for Research in Food Safety, said agricultural water is a persistent vulnerability in fresh produce production in Mexico.

"During a drought, if a small farmer finds a water source, they might use it even if it's poor quality," he said, adding that food companies ultimately bear responsibility for policing their supply chains.

Taylor Farms temporarily shut down the Guanajuato processing facility that U.S. officials traced to the cyclosporiasis outbreak. In a statement, the company said that its water sources are tested for fecal indicator organisms.

"We have cooperated fully with regulators in any instance where food safety concerns were raised, taking corrective action where warranted," the company said.

The ongoing outbreak of cyclosporiasis was not the first linked to Taylor Farms in Mexico. In 2013, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention linked restaurant-associated illnesses in Iowa and Nebraska to a bagged salad mix from Taylor Farms in Guanajuato.

Historically, the FDA has responded to illness outbreaks by placing particular products and regions under import alerts.

Firms that demonstrate compliance with additional safety, tracing, audit and testing requirements may qualify for the agency’s so-called green list and avoid being held at the border without needing inspection first. Yet, the green list system does not apply broadly across Mexican agriculture, and the twin outbreaks involving Taylor Farms and Mexican produce have prompted questions about whether existing oversight tools are sufficient.

McEntire said import alerts and green lists are generally deployed after recurring problems emerge, and serve as one enforcement tool rather than a standard requirement.

"I don't think that it is the be-all and end-all to produce safety. It doesn't guarantee that there's still thorough understanding and execution of these practices," she said.