Cyclospora outbreak followed years of declining FDA foreign inspections
A nationwide outbreak of cyclospora tied to contaminated lettuce has heightened safety concerns about imported food, while underscoring a longer-term trend: U.S. regulators are conducting fewer international inspections to catch contaminated produce before it lands on American plates.
A nationwide outbreak of cyclospora tied to contaminated lettuce has raised concerns about the safety of imported food. The outbreak has highlighted a trend of US regulators conducting fewer international inspections to catch contaminated produce before it enters the country.
According to Fortune, Food and Drug Administration inspections of foreign food sites are down nearly 35% since 2019. The pandemic led to a wave of retirements and departures among FDA inspectors, and recent staffing cuts and reorganizations may lead to even fewer inspections.
The FDA has struggled to meet its congressionally mandated targets for international inspections, even before the pandemic. A former senior FDA official, Michael Rogers, noted that the agency's resources are limited, and it may not be able to achieve what is required.
Brief written by urgent.news from PBS NewsHour, MedPage Today, Fortune — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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- Cyclospora outbreak followed years of declining FDA foreign inspections winnipegfreepress.com
- ‘The agency just can’t achieve what is required’: The cyclospora outbreak followed a nearly 35% plunge in FDA foreign food inspections fortune.com
- Cyclospora outbreak followed years of declining FDA foreign inspections pbs.org
- Cyclospora Outbreak Followed Years of Declining FDA Foreign Inspections medpagetoday.com
