Mark Pinsley, the Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania Senate District 16, says Pennsylvania can’t count on Washington to keep its food safe anymore — and that the state should step up.
In short:
- The FDA, which oversees most of the country’s food, has lost about 4,300 employees since the start of 2025.
- 2026 has been one of the worst years on record for some foodborne illnesses.
- Pinsley supports a proposal by state Sens. Amanda Cappelletti and Maria Collett to require doctors and labs to report cases of one of those illnesses, cyclosporiasis, so outbreaks can be spotted sooner.
Fewer people protecting your food
According to federal workforce data, the FDA lost 3,859 employees in 2025 and 473 more in 2026 so far. (FoodNavigator-USA) Counting the CDC — the agency that tracks outbreaks — the two agencies have lost more than 7,000 people since January 2025. (Baller Alert, citing federal OPM data)
Many of the cuts hit the lab scientists and support staff who back up food inspectors, which slowed testing and inspections. Nearly one in five FDA food inspector jobs sat empty after a federal hiring freeze. And even before the cuts, the FDA was falling short: its inspector general found it should inspect about 7,000 high-risk food facilities a year, but it was reaching only about 58% of them. (CBS News)
The FDA itself says it has been shifting food safety work to the states for years. (UpNorthNews) Pinsley’s point is that if that’s true, the states need to be ready.
A bad year for foodborne illness
Cyclospora, a parasite that causes severe, long-lasting stomach illness, has surged in 2026. By mid-August, the CDC had confirmed 13,895 cases, with more than 10,000 more under investigation — compared with about 1,180 cases over the same months last year. Most were tied to contaminated lettuce. (CIDRAP, University of Minnesota)
Pennsylvania has been hit by other outbreaks too. A Salmonella outbreak linked to jalapeño peppers sickened 431 people in 32 states this summer, including Pennsylvania. (FDA)
The gap in Pennsylvania’s own system
Cyclosporiasis is a nationally notifiable disease. But Pennsylvania doesn’t require doctors or labs to report it. Reporting here is voluntary. (Cappelletti–Collett co-sponsorship memo, August 3, 2026)
That matters because outbreaks are found by connecting cases. If cases aren’t reported, health officials can’t see that people in different places got sick from the same food — and warnings come later than they should.
In August, Sens. Cappelletti and Collett announced plans to introduce legislation adding cyclosporiasis to Pennsylvania’s list of reportable diseases and requiring health care providers and labs to report confirmed cases to the Department of Health.
Pinsley’s position
Pinsley would vote for the Cappelletti–Collett bill. More broadly, he wants Pennsylvania to take on a bigger role in food safety: inspecting our own farms and food businesses, and testing food before people get sick, not after.
He makes the case in this video: “We can test food before people get sick, not after.”
Food safety used to be something Washington handled. Before the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, there were no federal food safety rules at all, and contaminated and watered-down food was common. Pinsley’s argument is that Pennsylvania shouldn’t have to find out the hard way what happens when federal protections weaken.
District 16 covers parts of Lehigh and Bucks counties. The general election is November 3, 2026.
