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Food Safety News publisher Bill Marler says he is asking the FDA through two citizen petitions to disclose more information about foodborne illness outbreaks, including company identities and locations. The provided source describes the petitions’ rationale and cites prior FDA transparency commitments, but the supplied text ends before detailing both requests or the agency’s response.
Food Safety News publisher Bill Marler says he has submitted two citizen petitions asking the FDA to release more identifying information about food-safety investigations, arguing that company names and locations should not be withheld from the public. In an October 2026 opinion article, Marler says the requests build on transparency commitments already made by the Department of Health and Human Services and the FDA; the supplied article text does not include the petitions’ full wording or an FDA response.
Marler frames the petitions as a request to carry out the federal government’s stated support for “radical transparency”, not as a demand for a new disclosure policy. He writes that the requests seek actions the government has previously taken or said it supports. He also says that, as of October 26, the Department of Justice had not told the FDA it lacked authority to act. The source does not provide a DOJ statement or explain the legal status of the petitions in detail.
The specific gap Marler identifies is the absence of company names and locations from some FDA outbreak summaries. He says the agency’s Executive Incident Summary abstracts for closed investigations were a meaningful step, but argues that redactions can leave consumers unable to identify the businesses or geographic areas connected to an outbreak. He cites reporting on a mango outbreak summary that omitted company names and a fatal Listeria investigation summary that, according to Food Safety Magazine, redacted details including the states where patients lived.
Marler also points to a February petition by Stop Foodborne Illness seeking to end the treatment of company names as confidential. He says the FDA replied that the names were protected by the Trade Secrets Act. Separately, he describes a September closure of an E. coli investigation involving romaine in which the agency did not name a grower, processor or brand, and an October outbreak involving chicken wraps in which the brand became public through a lawsuit and news reporting. Marler says he represents plaintiffs in the chicken-wrap outbreak; that relationship is relevant when weighing his account.
What Outbreak Details Consumers Could Gain
The dispute concerns whether people can connect an outbreak investigation to a specific product, company or location while an investigation is active or after it closes. That information can affect consumers deciding what food to avoid, businesses responding to questions and public-health workers communicating risk. The source does not establish that disclosure in every case would prevent illness, and Marler’s argument for broader release is advocacy rather than an FDA finding.
The question also involves competing interests: public access to useful safety information and the government’s handling of confidential commercial information. The FDA’s cited Trade Secrets Act rationale indicates that the agency sees a legal issue in releasing company names. Marler contends that the petitions can address that issue without asking the government to act beyond its authority. Whether the agency agrees, and how it would balance disclosure against confidentiality in particular investigations, remains unresolved in the supplied material.
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FDA’s Transparency Commitments on Food
The source traces the phrase “radical transparency” to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who promised it during his January 2025 Senate confirmation hearings and later described it as necessary for informed consent. In March 2025, HHS and the FDA connected the phrase to food policy in an announcement about reviewing the self-affirmed GRAS pathway, a route by which companies can determine that a substance is generally recognized as safe.
In July 2025, the FDA told food-industry leaders that transparency in food-safety and nutrition actions was key to reducing foodborne illness and chronic disease. In September, the agency introduced Executive Incident Summary abstracts for closed outbreak investigations. Marler says the summaries advanced public disclosure but did not consistently identify companies or locations. He also notes that FDA commissioner Marty Makary resigned in May 2026 and that food program head Kyle Diamantas became acting commissioner; President Donald Trump nominated Heidi Overton for the commissioner role in August, according to the source.
Petition Text and FDA Response Pending
The supplied source ends partway through its account of the chicken-wrap outbreak and does not include the full description of both citizen petitions. It is therefore unclear precisely what disclosures each petition requests, which records or investigations they cover, and what legal changes or agency actions Marler seeks. The source also contains no direct response from the FDA to these petitions and no published DOJ determination; Marler’s account that DOJ had not advised the FDA it lacked authority is his characterization of the position as of October 26.
The article is an opinion piece by a publisher who says he represents plaintiffs in one of the outbreaks he discusses. The underlying events and institutional statements are presented in that article, but the supplied material does not include the cited FDA summaries, the agency’s correspondence, the petitions themselves or independent responses from the businesses involved. Those materials would be needed to assess the full factual and legal record.
FDA Review Will Set the Next Step
The next development is whether the FDA formally responds to the petitions and explains whether it will change how it identifies companies and locations in outbreak summaries. The agency could grant or deny the requests, seek public comment, or take another course; the supplied source does not report a timetable or decision date.
Readers can expect the debate to turn on the petition text, the FDA’s interpretation of the Trade Secrets Act and any distinction the agency draws between information that can be released and information it considers confidential. Until an agency response or supporting documents are available, the scope of the proposed disclosure and its likely effect on future outbreak reporting remain open questions.
Key Questions
What is Bill Marler asking the FDA to do?
Marler says two citizen petitions ask the FDA to disclose more identifying details in food-safety investigations, particularly company names and locations. The supplied article text does not include the complete wording of either petition.
Why has the FDA withheld company names?
According to Marler, the FDA told Stop Foodborne Illness that company names were protected by the Trade Secrets Act. The source does not include the agency’s full legal explanation or the text of its response.
Has the FDA agreed to the new petitions?
The supplied source does not report an FDA decision or response to Marler’s two petitions. Their status is unclear based on the material provided.
What outbreak examples does Marler cite?
He cites a closed romaine-related E. coli investigation that, he says, named no grower, processor or brand, and a chicken-wrap outbreak in which he says the brand became public through a lawsuit and news coverage. Marler says he represents plaintiffs in the latter outbreak.
Source: foodsafetynews.com
