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Kit Knightly – Off-Guardian Aug 21, 2026

Earlier today, NBC News reported “at least 55 people” had fallen ill after eating contaminated alfalfa sprouts across 15 US states.

This is just the latest one of these.

It started last month, when a Cyclospora outbreak causing explosive diarrhoea sickened thousands across 41 states – this was linked to lettuce, oregano and other fresh produce. Those cases are just trending down now.

On August 5th, the CDC announced a salmonella outbreak linked to jalapeño peppers.

As of August 7th there were 11 active FDA food warnings and recalls according to this tracking website. That number has only grown in the two weeks since.

On August 14th, the FDA recalled 1.6 MILLION cartons of eggs, citing potential salmonella contamination.

On August 15th, it was tomato soup from Walmart, this time due to listeria contamination:

 

On August 19th, the FDA announced a massive recall of granola cereals – again due to salmonella infection.

Yesterday there were two.

First, CBS reported a recall of frozen blueberries from a supermarket chain due to e coli infection, a warning they upgraded to the highest level:

 

Then national news picked up a Seattle-based bakery recalling sourdough loaves due to fear of “small pieces of metal”. This was a very minor local issue, but received national headlines, which is very interesting.

It goes on and on. And this list is not exhaustive.

Not even the UK is spared, over here a salmonella outbreak has been declared a national incident, despite allegedly infecting only 200 people, and has been blamed on contaminated eggs.

This seems like a LOT of food warnings and poisoning outbreaks, right?

But the US FDA says no, less than an hour ago the FDA’s official X account posted data showing it’s actually a down year in terms of recalls:

 

But is this data correct and trustworthy? Who can tell.

I don’t know if there is any unusual activity as far as food warnings go, quite normal activity being given broader media coverage, or they are just entirely made-up…but whatever the explanation, questions are raised.

  • Are we really seeing an increase in food poisoning or is it just fear?
  • Are the diseases real at all or are they contriving shortages?
  • If the disease outbreaks are real, what’s causing the sudden rush?
  • What will the official line be? Who or what will be blamed?
  • Will a solution be proposed?

Discuss in the comments below.

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In somewhat related news, I’m happy to announce the Ice Age Farmer’s return to online activity, he’s going by “Unshadowed” now, and is active on X, YouTube, and SubStack. A really great independent media voice who was missed during his hiatus.

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