There were always deaths from food poisoning, and there will always be deaths from bad food. Both biological and chemical causes abound. No system can be perfected, and American agriculture is no exception.
However, consider that of the tens of millions of cantaloupes eaten by many tens of millions of Americans, only a dozen or two were sickened, and the couple of deaths were probably people with compromised health before their canteloupe consumption.
Modern food production has given America the worlds best and cheapest food. Unfortunately, it falls on the consumer/voter to prune the poisonous bureaucrats in Moscow on the Mississippi (Dept. of Agriculture).
And Listeria is one of the most common bacteria in food. This is like saying there’s rust in your bike and therefore you’re in danger of dying in a crash once it snaps in two.