• California: Taylor Farms recently issued a recall of several of its products made with fresh jalapeños after they were potentially linked to an ongoing salmonella outbreak. According to CDC, at least 345 people in over two dozen states have gotten sick from the same strain of salmonella that has been linked to jalapeños. FDA is currently investigating jalapeños served at Chipotle and Qdoba restaurants as part of the outbreak. The jalapeños were grown in Mexico and distributed by Coast Citrus Distributors, which recalled the affected product from the market. Taylor Farms later announced a voluntary recall of several of its products containing jalapeños from Coast Citrus Distributors, including spicy guacamole, mango pico de gallo, and more. The products were distributed across 26 states to several major retailers. According to Taylor Farms, it is "no longer sourcing products from this farmer," and the company "is not aware of any reported illnesses linked to its products containing jalapeños." Taylor Farms has also been linked to an ongoing outbreak of cyclosporiasis associated with contaminated iceberg lettuce. So far, there have been more than 18,000 cases of cyclosporiasis, including over 400 hospitalizations and two deaths. (Petri, New York Times, 8/9; Benadjaoud, et al., ABC News, 8/6)
• Kentucky: Humana plans to shut down more of its Medicare Advantage (MA) plans next year as part of its ongoing effort to improve profits. This is the second consecutive year that Humana is exiting MA plans. In 2026, the insurer offered MA coverage in three fewer states and 194 fewer counties. Although over one million new people joined Humana's MA plans due to generous benefits, the organization said it believes it needs to cut down its MA footprint even further to reach long-term margin goals. "Our No. 1 priority is to make the necessary progress to remain on track to deliver on our [2028] commitment of returning to a sustainable margin of at least 3%," said Humana CFO Celeste Mellet. Humana is planning to exit plans with lower capital returns, which will affect around 600,000 people, or roughly 8% of Humana's 7.2 million MA members. However, Humana said it expects about 40% of affected members, or around 240,000 people, to join its other plans. (Parduhn, Healthcare Dive, 7/29)
• Maryland: FDA has approved a new treatment selpercatinib, branded as Retevmo, to treat advanced cancer in patients ages two and older who have a rare genetic alteration. The treatment works by targeting and "turning off" the RET gene fusion to stop cell growth. RET gene fusions are found in around 1% to 2% of lung cancer tumors and in 10% to 20% of papillary thyroid cancer cases. "The full FDA approval of selpercatinib marks a pivotal moment in precision oncology — not simply because it validates this therapy, but also because it extends hope across a broad landscape of tumor types, from lung and thyroid to pancreatic, ovarian, and even rare pediatric tumors," said Alexander Drilon, chief of the early drug development service at Memorial Sloan Kettering, who led one of the two clinical trials that FDA considered for the treatment's approval. (Gregerson, Becker's Hospital Review, 7/21)

Recent years have seen increasing reports of food recalls and outbreaks, including listeria linked to deli meat and E. coli in onions sold in fast food restaurants. Writing for the New York Times, Emily Schmall explains why foodborne illnesses seem to be on the rise, as well as growing challenges to food safety.