You know what got recalled in Canada in 2025?

Pistachios. Salami. Tahini. Pizza Pops. Yogurt. Even drinkable yogurt got yanked because there might be plastic in it.

Health Canada and the CFIA were like, “Nobody’s eating suspicious pistachios on our watch.”

They issued hundreds of food recalls. They tracked outbreaks, hospitalizations, contamination… every bag of nuts had its own criminal investigation.

But ask a simple question: How many Canadians were seriously harmed or killed by prescribed psychiatric medications in 2025?

Nobody knows.

Because Canada doesn’t publicly track it that way.

Food? “That yogurt might have a tiny piece of plastic. Pull it nationwide!”

Prescription psychiatric drugs? “We have for the most part a voluntary reporting system of suspected adverse reactions… and we don’t actually publish a confirmed national death toll.”

I’m thankful for Vanessa’s Law enacted in 2019. It requires hospitals to report adverse drug reactions within 30 days. However, I recently discovered that the documented ADRs for Madi were not reported five years ago. It’s still pending as to whether the ADR reports have been done now or whether the hospital will be held accountable. 

I’m not saying food safety isn’t important. I just find it amazing that we seem to know more about the life story of a contaminated pistachio than the overall human toll from medications prescribed every day.

Apparently, if you’re a cashew, you’re under constant surveillance. If you’re a patient… good luck filling out the paperwork.