Food safety is becoming a midterm election issue after a record parasite outbreak

A massive foodborne outbreak this summer has raised concerns about the safety of the US food supply. Nearly 20,000 people were sickened by a cyclospora outbreak, according to Quartz. The outbreak led to the recall of tens of thousands of pounds of imported meat and prompted chain restaurants such as Chipotle and Taco Bell to remove suspected products from their menus.

Democrats have blamed the Trump administration's budget cuts at federal food safety agencies for the outbreak, CBS News reported. In response, the Trump administration accused Democrats of scaremongering over food safety to score political points. The issue has become a topic of national conversation and a political cause in the run-up to the midterm elections.

The outbreak has also raised questions about the safety of everyday food choices, with voters expressing concern about the safety of the food they buy. Democrats are using the issue to argue that Republicans should be ousted in the midterm elections, while the Trump administration denies any wrongdoing.

Brief written by urgent.news from Quartz, CBS News — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.