Is it really a spike?
Authorities haven’t offered an explanation for why food-safety problems seem to be on the rise. There’s been some discussion (and worry) within the industry that restaurants are more vulnerable because many jurisdictions have reduced the number of safety inspectors they employ or the number of restaurant visits each makes.
The standing speculation has been that outbreaks aren’t increasing, but it feels that way because officials are better equipped today to spot a pattern in food-poisoning instances. In bygone years, advocates of that theory have argued, the communication mechanisms weren’t in place to tie one person getting sick with the ailments of another.