Ok. What was it before 2015?
I have not found any public sources for that information. The best source I can find is from the National Fire Protection Association.
The latest published data seems to be from 2020.
At that time, there were approximately 36,000 facilities classified as "food production and processing sites".
There seems to be an average of 5,300 fires per year in the category of "All manufacturing and processing facilities". That includes a lot more units than just 36,000 "food production and processing sites".
According to the Census bureau, there are about 310,000 such facilities.
A grossly over-simplified estimate then would be an expected value of about 600 fires per year in "food production and processing sites".
Having 40 serious fires per year in such a population is certainly possible. If anything, we are not being told about how many fires truly occur or what an expected average might be in such critical facilities.
Sad to say, we just don't have the right information to assess whether something is going on here. It would not be difficult to collect the right information. But it is not being done. I would be wary of all claims regarding this topic.
The card trick is done with the left hand while the magician is distracting you with the right hand.