For years, farm and food safety advocates have called for greater oversight by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the nation’s food supplies. This year, the FDA stepped up its enforcement efforts, and now a leading food safety attorney says that food recalls are on the rise.

Recent high-profile recalls include Kraft Macaroni and Cheese that was pulled due to contamination with foreign objects, to ice cream from Blue Bell creamery that was tainted with listeria, according to Fox News. One reason for the increase in food recalls, according to lawyer Bill Marler, is that FDA has been funding state food labs to conduct more random food testing.

Marler first came to national attention in the early 1990s, when he was thrust into the spotlight as the attorney for families of children who were sickened by a deadly strain of e. coli bacteria that had contaminated hamburgers from the national fast food chain Jack in the Box. Ultimately, four people died and over 700 fell ill after eating tainted burgers at one of the 73 Jack in the Box locations that were identified as sources in that outbreak.

The recent random testing has also exposed large-scale incidents. The Blue Bell case was detected by South Caroline authorities in February and ended up prompting a recall in several states, after ten people were hospitalized and three died. Using genetic testing, the FDA and state authorities were able to track the exact strain of the listeria bacteria and determine it was the same in Blue Bell products sold in other states.

According to the FDA, while there have been several large food recalls, the total number of recalls does not show an upward trend. The agency noted that better methods for detecting food problems today may be one reason for an increase in recalls.

Marler added that recalls are necessary to protect consumers from dangerous foods, and that when companies suffer losses from food recalls it can prompt them to make changes for safer food in the future.

He notes that after the Jack in the Box scandal, the fast food industry greatly improved in avoiding e. coli problems.