Unbiased Science

How safe is our food supply??

Dr. Jess Steier kicks off a new season of Unbiased Science with a fresh format! Each episode tackles one concern or question that's gone viral online. It can be hard to know what to trust, so each episode this season tackles one question head-on.

Between this summer's Cyclospora outbreak linked to lettuce and the constant stream of food recalls in our feeds, this week we're joined by Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of CIDRAP at the University of Minnesota, along with other experts, to dig into how our food is kept safe and when we should worry.

You can also watch the convo on YouTube: https://youtu.be/QGiFDLSEAbM

(00:00) Season and Episode Intro

(10:11) Introducing Dr. Mike Osterholm

(11:27) Early Days of the Summer Cyclospora Outbreak

(18:15) What Does the Expert Say to People Who Are Worried About Outbreaks?

(20:35) Is There An Increase In Food Safety Issues?

(25:57) Former FDA Food Scientist Shares Her Perspective

(28:32) Could We Find The Cause Right Now?

(30:45) Is There Anything The Expert Avoids?

(33:44) Immunotoxicologist Food Safety Expert Shares His Perspective

(36:15) What Can We Do To Make The Food Supply Safer?

(40:20) Final Thoughts

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/09/food-safety-crisis-trump-cyclospora/688495/

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/2026/09/foodborne-illness-recall-cyclospora-summer/688497/

https://time.com/article/2026/08/26/e-coli-salmonella-cyclospora-is-the-u-s-seeing-a-surge-in-foodborne-illnesses-/

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2852106

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199605163342001

https://www.nejm.org/doi/abs/10.1056/NEJM199705293362210

https://drjessicaknurick.substack.com/p/why-foodborne-illness-is-surging

https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/foodborne-illness-increase-common

https://www.wral.com/news/state/diarrhea-parasites-glass-us-food-less-safe-august-24/

https://downloads.regulations.gov/FDA-2013-N-0013-0178/content.pdf

https://www.nejm.org/doi/abs/10.1056/NEJM199705293362210

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/

https://sprout.link/cidrap_

https://www.instagram.com/cidrap_?stkn=czA0d3cxczB2emdy

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Hello Unbiased Scientists! New season drops NEXT WEEK and we are so excited! Thank you for hanging in there with us over the summer break!

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Hello Unbiased Scientists! We’re taking a little break for summer, but in the meantime we are re-airing some of our very favorite episodes as well as some of YOUR favorites. We will still be posting infographics to our socials as well as longer form content on our Substack at substack.unbiasedscience.com⁠ and some short form video clips from episodes as well as some NEW short form content to our YouTube channel over the summer. So if you’re not following us already, check out the links below. Be sure to leave us a review and drop some comments on our socials with questions or topics you want to see us cover. We love hearing from you! And check out our BRAND NEW MERCH at merch.unbiasedscience.com

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Hello Unbiased Scientists! We’re taking a little break for summer, but in the meantime we are re-airing some of our very favorite episodes as well as some of YOUR favorites. We will still be posting infographics to our socials as well as longer form content on our Substack at substack.unbiasedscience.com⁠ and some short form video clips from episodes as well as some NEW short form content to our YouTube channel over the summer. So if you’re not following us already, check out the links below. Be sure to leave us a review and drop some comments on our socials with questions or topics you want to see us cover. We love hearing from you! And check out our BRAND NEW MERCH at merch.unbiasedscience.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello Unbiased Scientists! We’re taking a little break for summer, but in the meantime we are re-airing some of our very favorite episodes as well as some of YOUR favorites. We will still be posting infographics to our socials as well as longer form content on our Substack at substack.unbiasedscience.com⁠ and some short form video clips from episodes as well as some NEW short form content to our YouTube channel over the summer. So if you’re not following us already, check out the links below. Be sure to leave us a review and drop some comments on our socials with questions or topics you want to see us cover. We love hearing from you! And check out our BRAND NEW MERCH at merch.unbiasedscience.com

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