A summer of foodborne illness is already testing Trump's pick for top regulator

This summer, the US saw over 17,000 confirmed cases of explosive diarrhoea caused by cyclospora - linked to lettuce from Taylor Farms - up from 1,180 cases last summer. There have also been outbreaks of E. coli and salmonella from alfalfa sprouts, eggs, jalapenos, frozen blueberries and a number of other products.The recalls have left Americans baffled about what is safe to consume, as public health experts say the slow response to the outbreaks is a symptom of a depleted FDA."People are definitely upset about the outbreaks this summer, and they have a reason to be," said Sarah Sorscher, a food safety advocate with nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest."This is already a system that was teetering on the brink, and the cuts from the past year and the disruptions from the past year are pushing it over the edge."The Health and Human Services department contests this."The Trump Administration has mounted a robust response to each outbreak," a spokesperson said. "FDA has the staff needed to continue investigating outbreaks, as no FDA investigators were affected by staffing changes or reductions in force."While some Americans are willing to give Trump's new FDA leader a shot, others worry the Trump administration's policies at the FDA have put their health at risk this summer.Texas resident David Hargrave is on edge after having had diarrhoea every single day for the past month and a half, since the 59-year-old contracted cyclospora around the Fourth of July."It puts the scare into you," Hargrave said about knowing what to eat.Food regulation experts say that a major contributing factor in these outbreaks has been deep cuts at the FDA, which they say has led to fewer food inspections and poor communication about outbreaks."If we had had better boots on the ground in that [cyclospora] outbreak, we could have potentially solved it," Sorscher said.In the case of cyclospora, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued its first health alert on 14 July, 10 weeks after the first cases began in early May."It's resulted in a public that's a little more on edge and panic about what's going on because of the poor communication," said Jerold Mande, a former FDA and USDA official and a professor of nutrition at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.Trump has praised Overton, a former general surgery resident at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and chief policy officer at conservative think tank America First Policy Institute, as a "rockstar" future leader of the FDA.But her nomination to the top job comes at a time where Trump officials are attempting to take steps on a number of controversial issues regulated by the agency, including vaccines and abortion medication. As an insider in Trump's orbit, some public health experts, including Swartzberg, are afraid she will put his agenda first, and the science second.In a statement to the BBC, White House spokesperson Kush Desai said Overton “has been integral to ensuring that the Administration's policies are correct, consistent, and grounded in Gold Standard Science."The White House looks forward to her swift confirmation by the Senate."But to be confirmed, Overton must first get the support of the Senate's health committee, chaired by Republican Senator and doctor Bill Cassidy. It's unclear whether Cassidy will back the president's pick, after he expressed "strong concerns" about Overton because of her support for Trump's orders to overhaul the childhood vaccine schedule.Her nomination is also viewed sceptically by some in MAHA movement, because of Trump's order to increase domestic production of glyphosate, which they argue causes cancer.One prominent MAHA influencer, Alex Clark, took to social media last week to accuse Overton of being heavily involved in the executive order, an allegation the White House denies.Yet Capriotti said some in the movement were too quick to raise concerns."She's a well-respected doctor," Capriotti said. "I would like to give her a chance."