Cyclospora outbreak followed years of declining FDA foreign inspections

This undated photo taken through a microscope and provided by the CDC shows Cyclospora cayetanensis oocysts found in a fresh stool sample which had been prepared with a formalin solution and stained with safranin. Credit: AP/Melanie Moser WASHINGTON — 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. Food and Drug Administration inspections of foreign food sites — including the Mexican farm linked to the ongoing outbreak — are down nearly 35% since 2019, the year before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to agency records. The pandemic kicked off a wave of retirements and departures among FDA inspectors that continues to this day. Even before COVID-19, the agency had long failed to hit its congressionally mandated targets for international inspections.

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