Americans experience more food recalls today than they did five years ago, particularly when it comes to meat and poultry, a government watchdog analysis found.

Meat and poultry recalls increased by two-thirds from 2013 to 2018, while food recalls overall edged up 10 percent, according to the report published Thursday by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG).

The group claims the numbers prove more could be done to protect the public against contaminations such as E. coli and salmonella. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 48 million people get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die from foodborne disease each year in the USA.

"We need to be looking for these farm-to-fork preventative solutions that are logical," said Adam Garber, PIRG's consumer watchdog. "By doing that, we can protect people's health."

The analysis follows a year full of food-safety scares. Two E. coli contaminations in romaine lettuce left five dead and more than 100 hospitalized. A salmonella outbreak in raw beef sickened 246 people and caused 12 million pounds of beef to be discarded.

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Though last year's 703 recalls were a 10 percent rise over 2013's tally, 2018 fell short of the five-year peak of 905 in 2016.

Over the five-year period, poultry posted the most recalls (168), followed by beef (137) and pork (128).

The report, which analyzed data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration, shows the most serious meat recalls are on the rise. Among meat and poultry, the number of Class I recalls increased by 83 percent, nearly doubling, since 2013. Class I, the most serious of the recalls, is issued when there is a reasonable probability the food will cause health problems or death.

According to the American Association of Meat Producers (AAMP), which says it's North America's largest meat trade organization, Class I recalls can occur because of misbranding or undeclared allergens.

"While there has been an increase in recalls in recent years, the industry will continue to work diligently with FSIS (USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service) to take better control of those circumstances," AAMP Executive Director Chris Young said.

Aside from meat, processed food and produce recalls increased 2 percent. Ritz and Goldfish crackers, Honey Smacks cereal and melon and soy nut butter all had recalls over the five-year period.

PIRG offered a number of potential reasons for the increase in recalls but could not identify a single root cause.

Whatever the cause, the food industry and regulators should take note of the report's findings, said Sarah Sorscher, deputy director of regulatory affairs at the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

"Numbers aside, any time you see large amounts of contaminated meat reaching consumers, that is a problem," she said.

PIRG called for a number of changes to the U.S. food system, some of which are championed by food safety advocates. Among them is better testing of irrigation water. Contaminated water on or near farms was linked to both of 2018's romaine lettuce outbreaks.

PIRG supports more stringent inspection and monitoring of food producers, granting the USDA mandatory recall authority for meat and poultry and penalizing companies who continue to sell after a recall. The group wants to improve the systems by which retailers alert customers of recalls and the technologies used to trace contaminated produce and meat through the food supply.

Garber suggested consumers cook their meat to temperature and properly wash their vegetables. To stay up to date on what might be contaminated, he said, consumers can sign up for FDA and USDA recall alerts and use the resources grocery stores offer to alert their customers to recalls.

In a Thursday tweet, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said his agency made changes to improve the food recall process over the past year, particularly when it comes to informing shoppers.

"More actions to improve our recall policies are planned, including ways to further improve our ability to track and trace products through the supply chain. We’ll continue to communicate on these efforts in the coming year," he said.

Follow Sean Rossman on Twitter: @SeanRossman

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